ABC Cancels Backstreet Boys Holiday Special Amid Nick Carter Rape Allegations
ABC will not be airing a planned Backstreet Boys Holiday Special after band singer Nick Carter was slapped with a
Ivy Griffith
ABC will not be airing a planned Backstreet Boys Holiday Special after band singer Nick Carter was slapped with a lawsuit this week.
The lawsuit alleges that Carter raped a 17-year-old fan back in 2001.
The allegations against Carter have sparked an uproar of fans battling over whose side they’re on – and what should be done about it.
See: NICK CARTER AND BACKSTREET BOYS SADLY HONOR AARON CARTER AT LONDON CONCERT WITH HEAVY HEARTS
Nick Carter Slapped with Lawsuit Alleging Sexual Assault
A Backstreet Boys special set to showcase songs from their newest album was set to air on ABC December 14. However, the network pulled the special from their lineup after news broke that Carter was facing a lawsuit.
On Thursday, Carter was hit with a lawsuit from a 39-year-old woman named Shannon “Shay” Ruth, an autistic woman who lives with cerebral palsy.
According to Ruth, Carter assaulted her while he was on tour in 2001 shortly after a show in Tacoma, Washington. At the time of the alleged incident, Ruth was just 17 years old.
CNN reports, “Ruth alleges in her complaint that Carter picked her out of a line of autograph seekers, invited her on tour bus and gave her ‘VIP juice,’ which she believes was a mixture of cranberry juice and alcohol.
After the alleged assault, Ruth says she contracted ‘the human papillomavirus (commonly known as HPV), a sexually transmitted infection known to cause health problems such as genital warts and cervical cancer,’ according to the complaint.
During a press conference held in Beverly Hills, California, on Thursday, Ruth said ‘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.’”
No criminal charges were filed in regards to the alleged assault.
Nick Carter Vehemently Denies Allegations
Carter denies the allegations against him.
Carter’s attorney, Michael Holtz, said in a statement, “This claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue. Unfortunately, for several years now, Ms. Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick – and those allegations have changed repeatedly and materially over time.”
This isn’t the first time Carter has faced an allegation of this nature, however.
In 2017, Carter was accused of rape by former pop singer Melissa Schuman. Schuman said at the time that Carter had raped her 15 years prior, which would have been about a year after the alleged incident with Ruth.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles sought to bring charges against Carter at the time, but eventually opted not to because the statute of limitations had expired.
At the time, Carter denied those allegations at well and issued a statement, saying, “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.”
There’s no word yet about what plans (if any) will change in regard to Carter’s time with the Backstreet Boys in upcoming events and projects.
Carter recently suffered the devastating death of his younger brother, Aaron Carter.