Nick Carter’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Rape Accuser to Continue, Judge Rules

A Nevada Supreme Court judge ruled Tuesday that Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter can move forward with his counterclaim against Shannon “Shay” Ruth, who accused him of raping her when she was 17 years old on a tour bus.

According to documents obtained by People, Judge Nancy L. Allf denied Ruth’s anti-SLAPP motion against Carter’s countersuit because she “failed to satisfy her burden.”

“Our resolution of this appeal has been hindered by Ruth’s failure to identify with specificity any of the statements that form the basis of Ruth’s anti-SLAPP motion,” the filing read. “We therefore conclude that any statements on which Carter’s counterclaims is based that are not specifically addressed in this order do not warrant reversal of the district court’s order.”

In December 2022, Ruth filed a sexual battery lawsuit in Clark County, Nevada, and claimed that in 2001, Carter, then 21, picked her out of a line of fans seeking autographs after a concert when she was 17 years old. Ruth alleged that Carter invited her to join him on his tour bus and then raped her.

Her lawsuit arrived after Melissa Schuman, a former member of teen-pop group Dream, stepped forward in 2017 and accused Carter of sexually assaulting her in 2003 when she was 18 years old, during the time they were shooting the 2004 made-for-TV movie The Hollow.

Carter denied both women’s claims and filed a counterclaim in February 2023 against Ruth and Schuman. According to People, the singer accused the two women of taking advantage of the #MeToo movement and conspiring to “defame and vilify Carter and otherwise ruin his reputation for the purposes of garnering attention and fame and/or extorting money from Carter.” Carter was given permission to pursue his countersuit against Schuman in August 2023 and is suing her for $2.5 million in damages for alleged defamation and interference with existing and prospective business contracts.

According to Tuesday’s ruling, although Ruth claimed she met Carter in an autograph line, witness affidavits provided by Carter state that the Backstreet Boys member and the rest of the band left the concert venue soon after the show and there were no autograph lines after the event.

“We conclude that Carter’s evidence, if believed, establishes that Carter did not sexually assault Ruth following the Backstreet Boys concert in 2001, such that Ruth’s statements describing such an incident would perforce be made with knowledge of their falsity,” the ruling stated.