The famed singer Nick Carter, known for his work as one of the Backstreet Boys, has been accused of allegedly sexually assaulting a minor. According to Consequence of Sound, the new lawsuit claims that the singer allegedly raped a 17 year old at a Backstreet Boys concert in 2001.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday by a woman named Shannon Ruth, claims that Carter took her onto the Backstreet Boys’ tour bus after a performance in Tacoma, Washington. In the bus, Ruth was allegedly coaxed into drinking cranberry juice, which Carter referred to as “VIP juice.” Ruth, who was 17 at the time while Carter was 21, suggests that the juice was spiked with alcohol.
The suit additionally alleges that Carter proceeded to force her to perform oral sex on him, before continuing to sexually assault her in other ways. Throughout the interaction, Carter allegedly referred to Ruth, who has autism and cerebral palsy, as a “retarded little bitch,” and threatened to turn others against her if she came forward about what happened.
Ruth also claims that she had been a virgin at the time, and contracted HPV as a result of the alleged assault. The lawsuit, which was first broken by TMZ, seeks damages for the incident. In response to the lawsuit, ABC has cancelled the Backstreet Boys Holiday Special, originally scheduled to air on December 14.
Nick Carter has denied all allegations of sexual assault. His lawyer, Michael Holtz, has argued that the “claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue.”
Holtz goes on to suggest that Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations, and believes that a court will dismiss the case swiftly: “Unfortunately, for several years now, Ms. Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick – and those allegations have changed repeatedly and materially over time. No one should be fooled by a press stunt orchestrated by an opportunistic lawyer – there is nothing to this claim whatsoever, which we have no doubt the courts will quickly realize.”
This is not the first time that the singer has been accused of sex crimes. In 2018, former Dream vocalist Melissa Schuman accused Carter of allegedly forcing her to have sex with him, while she was 18 and he was 22. Nick Carter denied all allegations, and was never charged for any crimes.
This latest lawsuit follows weeks after Nick Carter’s brother Aaron Carter was found dead at the age of 34.
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