Content warning: This article contains references to sexual violence.
In a new lawsuit, first reported by TMZ, Nick Carter has been accused of raping a 17 year old after a 2001 Backstreet Boys concert.
On Thursday, Shannon Ruth filed a sexual battery lawsuit against Carter in Clark County District Court in Las Vegas. In it, she claims Carter invited her onto the Backstreet Boys’ tour bus after a concert in Tacoma, Washington when she was 17 and he was 21. Carter allegedly asked Ruth, who has autism and cerebral palsy, if she wanted a drink, and when she asked for apple juice, he instead gave her cranberry, calling it “VIP juice.” Ruth believes it was mixed with alcohol.
After that, Ruth claims Carter led her to the tour bus bathroom and instructed her to perform oral sex before assaulting her further. According to the lawsuit, Carter called her a “retarded little bitch” and said no one would believe her if she came forward about the incident. Ruth says she was a virgin at the time and contracted HPV after the assault. She is now seeking damages.
In a statement, Michael Holtz, an attorney for Carter, called the allegations “legally meritless” and “entirely untrue.” Holtz also said the woman has “been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick — and those allegations have changed repeatedly and materially over time.”
In light of the lawsuit, ABC has pulled a previously scheduled Backstreet Boys holiday special set to air next Wednesday, December 14th.
Carter has been accused of sexual assault before. In 2017, Melissa Schuman, former member of the pop band Dream, said the singer forced her to have sex “against my will” when he was 22 and she was 18. Carter also denied those allegations.
Last month, Carter’s younger brother, Aaron, was found dead at the age of 34.
