Nick Carter has formally filed a countersuit towards his sexual assault accuser, Dream singer Melissa Schuman, asking for $2.5 million in damages.
The criticism, filed within the Superior Court docket of California on July 26 and obtained by Billboard, denies her claims and alleges that Schuman “publicly acknowledges her dwindling profession and thirst for web relevance,” referring to a 2014 YouTube video of hers titled “I have to Turn into Necessary On the Web.” He additionally claimed that Schuman and her father recruited different events to defame him.
In August 2023, a decide denied an try and dismiss the countersuit, figuring out that Carter offered adequate proof for his defamation case to maneuver ahead. In a criticism filed a couple of months earlier, Schuman accused the pop singer of sexually assaulting her in 2003 when she was simply 18 years outdated, whereas the 2 had been starring within the teen horror film The Hole. Schuman alleged that Carter gave her drug-laced alcohol throughout a celebration, earlier than taking her away from the group and repeatedly assaulting her regardless of clear statements that she didn’t consent.
Carter was hit with an analogous lawsuit from Shannon “Shay” Ruth, a girl who says he raped her on a tour bus when she was 17 years outdated in 2001. Ruth had requested the decide to dismiss his defamation countersuit below Nevada’s so-called anti-SLAPP legislation — a statute designed to stop lawsuits which are filed as retaliation towards free speech. Nevertheless, in March, a Nevada decide dominated that Carter may proceed to sue each Ruth and Schuman for defamation over their accusations. Carter’s lawsuit claims the accusations are a “conspiracy” to “to harass, defame and extort” him.
The principles come following a 3rd sexual assault accusation in direction of Carter. In a criticism filed on August 28 in Las Vegas court docket, a Jane Doe accuser recognized as “A.R.” claims that Carter sexually assaulted her on a number of events in 2003, when he was in his early 20s and she or he was simply 15 years outdated, together with a number of instances on a yacht and as soon as on a tour bus. The disturbing incident allegedly left her with sexually-transmitted ailments and different lasting results.