Backstreet Boys’ Carter denies rape allegations
Backstreet Boys’ member Nick Carter has denied accusations t hat he raped singer and actress Melissa Schuman in 2002. Schuman, a former member of the girls pop group Dream, wrote about the alleged rape on her blog, Melissa Explains It All.
In a post this month, Schuman claims the incident occurred at Carter’s apartment on a day off from shooting The Hollow. Schuman had gone to Carter’s apartment with a friend for drinks and to hang out. At the time, she was 18 and Carter was 22. After kissing consensually, Schuman writes that Carter took her into his bathroom, where he began unbuttoning her pants. Schuman, who was a virgin and had been waiting until marriage for sex, informed Carter that she did not want to go any further.
“He took off my pants anyway and then proceeded to perform oral sex on me,” writes Schuman. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t.” Schuman then goes on to say that she thought “he would stop after this, but he just didn’t.” Carter then allegedly forced her to perform oral sex on him too.
After that, Carter allegedly took Schuman to his bedroom. She writes that she repeatedly told him she was a virgin and that she didn’t want to have sex, but that Carter was “relentless, refusing to take my no’s ( sic) for an answer.” According to Schuman, Carter would not let her escape. “He was heavy, too heavy to get out from under him. Then I felt it, he put something inside of me. I asked him what it was and he whispered in my ear once more, ‘ it’s all me baby,’” she writes.
Schuman says that she did not come out with the allegations at the time because she was informed by her manager that Carter had powerful legal representation. “I didn’t have the money, the clout or access to an attorney who was powerful enough to stand up against my abuser’s legal counsel,” she writes. “I was told I would likely be buried in humiliation, accused of being fame hungry, and it would ultimately hurt me professionally as well as publicly.”
In a statement, Carter said: “I am shocked and saddened by Ms. Schuman’s accusations. Melissa never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual. We went on to record a song and perform together, and I was always respectful and supportive of Melissa both personally and professionally. This is the first that I am hearing about these accusations, nearly two decades later. It is contrary to my nature and everything I hold dear to intentionally cause someone discomfort or harm.”