Melissa Henschel has sued Nick Carter for sexual battery, sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence. Carter denied the allegations in a statement to CNN in 2017. He claimed Henschel never expressed that anything they did was not consensual. He said they recorded a song and performed together, and he always respected and supported her.
“This is the first I am hearing about these accusations, nearly two decades later,” Carter said. “It is contrary to my nature to intentionally cause discomfort or harm.”
In the second episode of “Fallen Idols,” A.R. shares her account. She filed a lawsuit in August 2023 using just her initials. The suit alleges sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. It concerns two incidents on Carter’s boats in Marathon, Florida, in 2003. A.R. was 15 years old at the time.
A.R. accuses Carter of giving her alcohol, knowing she was a minor. She claims he engaged in sex acts without her consent. During the second incident, she says Carter enticed three male friends to watch. She alleges Carter continued despite her refusals and requests to stop. A.R. also claims she contracted a sexually transmitted disease.
Carter denied A.R.’s allegations in a countersuit filed in January.
Shannon Ruth filed a sexual battery lawsuit against Carter in December 2022. She accused him of raping her on the Backstreet Boys’ tour bus in 2001. Ruth was 17 years old. Carter denied these allegations in a statement from his attorney Michael Holtz. He described Ruth’s claims as legally meritless and untrue. Carter later filed a counterclaim against Ruth, Henschel, and Henschel’s father, Jerome Schuman.
In his counterclaim, Carter alleges a five-year conspiracy to harass, defame, and extort him. He links this campaign to the #MeToo movement. Carter claims it began with a blog post by Schuman in November 2017, which he says falsely accused him of assault.
CNN has contacted attorneys for Henschel, Ruth, and A.R. The cases are ongoing.
