Nick Carter Sues Rape Accuser Melissa Schuman for $2.5 Million, Alleges She Intentionally Defamed Him

Mar. 15, 2025

Nick Carter; Melissa Schuman.Photo:Michael Kovac/Getty; Matthew Simmons/Getty

Michael Kovac/Getty; Matthew Simmons/Getty

In his counterclaim filed in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County on July 26, Carter alleged Schuman, who was the lead singer of the ’90s girl group Dream, made false statements when she first accused him of sexual assaulton her blogin 2017. She later gave several interviews where she backed up her claims, per Carter’s filing.

Nick Carter in New York City in June 2017.Santiago Felipe/Getty

Santiago Felipe/Getty

Carter’s counterclaim alleges Schuman continued to make several defamatory statements when she named him as her rapist on social media, in a documentary, and in press conferences between September 2023 and May 2024. He insists that their sexual encounter was consensual and that her allegations are an attempt to revive her “dwindling career.”

Carter alleges that Schuman is well aware of his business dealings and intentionally made the statements “with a specific intent to damage Carter’s reputation and interfere with his business opportunities, advantages and contracts,” per his filing.

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It also denies allegations that Carter sexually assaulted Shannon Ruth, whosued himin December 2022 for alleged sexual battery. Carterfiled a countersuitagainst Ruth in Nevada after she claimed he raped her on a tour bus in 2001 when she was 17.

In May, Carterfiled a motionrequesting a hearing and asking the court to grant him a summary judgment on Ruth’s claims “for sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress.”

He also named Schuman in that filing.

Schuman’s attorney Karen Barth Menzies responded to Carter’s most recent filing, telling PEOPLE in a statement, “Carter’s California counter-claim makes the same arguments as his stalled Nevada lawsuit, and both show that his approach to defend sexual assault claims is to attack the victims.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go torainn.org.

source: people.com