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Nick Carter's (pic) attorneys dispute the sexual assault allegations detailed in the new docuseries Fallen Idols: Nick And Aaron Carter.
In the docuseries that premiered Monday, three women — Melissa Schuman, Shannon Ruth and Ashley Repp — spoke about their alleged assaults throughout the early 2000s. The women have each sued Nick Carter, who has denied their accusations and collectively filed a countersuit against all three for defamation.
In a statement to The Times, Carter's attorneys Liane Wakayama and Dale Hayes Jr. rejected the allegations in Fallen Idols, for which Carter reportedly declined to be interviewed.
"These are exactly the same outrageous claims that led us to sue this gang of conspirators," the statement read. "Those cases are working their way through the legal system now, and, based on both the initial court rulings and the overwhelming evidence, we have every belief that we will prevail and hold them accountable for spreading these falsehoods."
The last two of four episodes of Fallen Idols will premiere Tuesday on Investigation Discovery, the network behind Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV.
The Investigation Discovery show also touches on the rift between brothers Nick and Aaron Carter, which was amplified after Aaron publicly supported the women who accused Nick — real name Nickolas Carter — of sexual assault.
The series also mentions the mental health struggles of Nick Carter's younger brother before his death in November 2022 at 34.
The fourth episode will go into Ruth's claims, according to CNN. Ruth filed a civil sexual battery lawsuit against Carter in December 2022, alleging that he infected her with HPV when she was 17 and he was 21.
Ruth said the alleged assault — which she characterised as rape — occurred in February 2001 after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Washington. In a December 2022 statement, an attorney for Carter called the allegations "legally meritless" and "entirely untrue."
In February 2023, Carter countersued Ruth, calling her an "opportunist" who allegedly conspired with Schuman to extort him. Carter also added Schuman as a defendant in his defamation countersuit.
Schuman, a former member of the 2000s girl group Dream, accused Carter of rape in 2017, though prosecutors declined to file charges because the statute of limitations had expired. She filed a lawsuit in April 2023, alleging Carter sexually assaulted her in 2002 in Santa Monica when he was 22 and she was 18.
Repp filed her lawsuit in August 2023, alleging Carter assaulted her three times in Florida in 2003 when she was 15 and he was 23. Repp said Carter infected her with HPV.
Repp's attorney Margaret Mabie, who filed the lawsuit on her client's behalf, said in a statement at the time that she hoped "this lawsuit will pave the way for other survivors to hold their abusers to account."
Carter's attorney called Repp's accusations "ridiculous," adding her to the defamation countersuit in January 2024. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
