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

Nick Carter has legally responded to Melissa Schuman's lawsuit after she accused him of sexual assault. In his own counterclaim obtained by PEOPLE on Tuesday, Aug. 13, the Backstreet Boys singer denies Schuman's accusations and is countersuing her for $2.5 million.

Carter's filing comes over a year after Schuman, 39, sued him in April 2023 for sexual assault and battery, per court docs obtained by PEOPLE at the time. She alleged that Carter, 44, invited her to his Santa Monica, Calif., apartment after they filmed teen thriller The Hollow together in 2003. Schuman claimed that shortly after she arrived at Carter's apartment with a friend, he gave her a sedative and sexually assaulted her. He was 22 and she was 18.

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 assault on her blog in 2017. She later gave several interviews where she backed up her claims, per Carter's filing.

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.

In his response to Schuman's lawsuit, Carter, via his attorneys, denied "each and every" accusation that Schuman made against him in her lawsuit. He alleged that her complaint "fails to state facts" and that it should be barred by the statute of limitations and the unclean hands doctrine, which is "an equitable defense that bars relief to a party who has engaged in inequitable behavior," per Westlaw Today.

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The documents also allege Schuman's complaint wasn't brought in good faith, and stated, "Carter did not sexually assault" her. The filing goes on to deny any attempt by Carter to "cover up" her allegations.

It also denies allegations that Carter sexually assaulted Shannon Ruth, who sued him in December 2022 for alleged sexual battery. Carter filed a countersuit against Ruth in Nevada after she claimed he raped her on a tour bus in 2001 when she was 17.

In May, Carter filed a motion requesting 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 to rainn.org.