“Backstreet Boys” member Nick Carter is being sued for an alleged 2001 sexual assault, with a source close to the singer calling the claims “categorically false.”
In a press conference live-streamed on Facebook Thursday, the 39-year-old singer was accused of allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl more than two decades ago after the boy band’s concert in February 2001 in Tacoma, Washington, Page Six reported.
“The last 21 years have been filled with pain, confusion, frustration, shame and self-harm that are a direct result of Nick Carter raping me,” Shannon “Shay” Ruth shared in a tearful speech.
Nick Carter accused of raping underage autistic fan in 2001 https://t.co/7bL5inZ53i pic.twitter.com/bpsDt6MGvR
— New York Post (@nypost) December 8, 2022
“Even though I’m autistic and live with cerebral palsy, I believe that nothing has affected me more or had a more lasting impact on my life than what Nick Carter did and said to me,” she added.
“After he raped me, I remember him calling me a ‘r*****ed b****’ and grabbing me and leaving bruises on my arm,” Ruth continued. “Carter tried to scare me into silence … he was nasty and threatening.”
Ruth said she never told anyone because she thought she could “go to jail,” but said she is speaking out now to allegedly “stop” Carter from “assaulting more teens and women” and “hold Nick Carter accountable.”
A source close to Carter reportedly told TMZ, “This accusation is categorically false, Nick is focusing on his family and mourning the death of his brother.”
Earlier in the press conference, the attorney detailed the claims made in the lawsuit. He alleges that his client — who was a minor — was invited on the bus after the concert where she was given a “red colored” drink that Carter reportedly called “VIP juice.” The attorney said his client thought the drink tasted “funny” and believes she was given a cocktail of alcohol and cranberry juice.
Carter then allegedly took the girl to the “bathroom” and “ordered her to perform sexual acts on him.” The attorney said Ruth claimed she was crying the entire time, but the singer reportedly “kept instructing her.”
His client claimed that the pop singer then took her “to a bed on the bus” and continued sexually assaulting her despite her repeated pleas. The attorney said she was a virgin at the time, and after the alleged interaction contracted HPV.
Carter previously faced multiple allegations of rape. He denied them and has never been charged with any crime, the Daily Mail noted.