Nick Carter is defending himself against two women who claim he raped them more than 15 years ago.
The Backstreet Boys singer, filed a countersuit against him in December for alleged sexual battery. In his countersuit, he also accuses Melissa Schuman, a former teen pop singer with the girl group Dream, of raping him in 2017.
The countersuit states the two women took advantage of the #MeToo movement and used it to launch a five-year conspiracy to “defame and vilify Carter and otherwise ruin his reputation for the purposes of garnering attention and fame and/or extorting money from Carter.”
The countersuit describes Schuman and Ruth as “opportunists” who set out to “destroy innocent lives,” and caused more than $2.3 million in business losses after the December accusation.
Ruth’s attorney Mark J. Boskovich told Page Six, “Why should Nick Carter be believed with his long history of abusing females? A jury will weigh the evidence and decide.”
Boskovich did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment right away.
In 2017, Schuman, now 38, claimed that Carter raped her while the two were working on a project together in the early 2000s. Schuman wrote on her website at the time that she was invited to Carter’s house and that the two kissed in the bathroom before he performed oral sex on her despite her objections.
She was 18 years old at the time, and he was 22.
Despite telling Carter that she was a virgin and would not have sex until marriage, Carter allegedly led her to his bedroom, where she claims he raped her.
Ruth announced her lawsuit against Carter at a press conference in December.
Ruth, who has autism and cerebral palsy, claimed she was in an autograph line after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Washington, in 2001 when Carter invited her to his bus.
The singer allegedly asked Ruth if she wanted a drink, and when she said she wanted apple juice, he allegedly gave her a red drink he called “VIP juice,” according to the documents. Ruth believes the beverage contained alcohol, despite Carter’s claim that it was cranberry juice.
Carter previously denied both charges. According to the countersuit, he believes he has never met Ruth.
According to the countersuit, Schuman and her father, Jerome Schuman, groomed Ruth, who was “vulnerable and highly impressionable, craving attention and desperate to fit in.”
The countersuit also alleges that Schuman cheated his late brother Aaron Carter, who died in November.
“The Schumans’ timing couldn’t have been better since, at the time, Aaron was addicted to drugs, battling serious mental health issues, and engaged in a misguided campaign of retaliation against Carter and other members of his family who were worried about Aaron and pushing him to seek professional help,” according to the suit. “Schuman, Jerome, and Ruth exploited Aaron’s fragile condition and family stresses to cloak their defamatory campaign with credibility, relentlessly and repeatedly using Aaron to try to legitimize their frivolous tales.”
According to the lawsuit, Aaron realized he was being used and apologized to Carter.
“In the months leading up to his recent death, Aaron not only apologized to Carter for his involvement in the Counter-Defendants’ smear campaign, but publicly stated that Schuman and Ruth were liars,” the lawsuit states.
The countersuit is Carter’s attempt to clear his name.
“Just as true victims of sexual assault have the right to seek justice and be heard, so too do persons falsely accused of sexual assault have the right to due process of law and to defend themselves by speaking the truth,” the suit states.