Nick Carter’s legal fight continues as Shannon Ruth, the woman who sued Nick Carter in December 2022 over alleged sexual assault, seeks to dismiss his recent counterclaim.
The motion, filed on Tuesday, was obtained by PEOPLE. It alleges that the Backstreet Boys’ 43-year-old singer filed his counterclaim with the intent “to harass and intimidate Plaintiff and impede her free speech and use his considerable wealth” and celebrity status in order to outlast Ruth.
According to her attorneys, this type of claim is known as a “strategic litigation against public participation” or “SLAPP.” Nevada has laws that prevent this type of lawsuit, or “at least, limit their nefarious intentions,” by requiring that the filing party must show that they have a chance of success before proceeding.
Mark J. Boskovich, Ruth’s lawyer, and Michael Holtz (Carter’s lawyer) did not immediately respond when asked for comments.
Ruth’s attorneys suggest in the motion that Carter’s counterclaim was just a strategy for him to use his celebrity to “outlast”, “intimidate”, and “outspend Ruth” instead of facing the allegations in court.
The motion states that the singer “hide behind being a ‘victim,’ of the #MeToo Movement, and the preposterous idea that Plaintiff is just seeking attention and publicity.” This is a SLAPP suit, and it shouldn’t be allowed to proceed.
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Nick Carter.
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Ruth announced that she was suing Carter at a press conference in December 2022.
Ruth, who is autistic and has cerebral palsy claimed that she was waiting for an autograph after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma in 2001 when Carter invited to her bus.
The documents claim that the singer asked Ruth for a drink and, when she asked for apple juice, gave her a red colored drink he called VIP juice.
Ruth claims Carter told her that the beverage contained cranberry, but she believes it also contained alcohol.
The singer has denied both allegations. The counterclaim claims that he believes he never met Ruth.
Nick Carter Sued by Source for Sexual Battery in 2001 Fan Incident
Carter filed a counterclaim in February against Ruth. In his counterclaim he is also suing Melissa Schuman who was a former teen singer from the girl group Dream and accused him of rape.
According to the counterclaim obtained by PEOPLE, the counterclaim alleges that the two women took the #MeToo campaign and used it to launch an elaborate five-year conspiracy “to defame and destroy Carter’s reputation and to otherwise ruin his name for the purpose of gaining attention and fame or extorting Carter money.”
The report also calls Schuman, now 38 years old, and Ruth “opportunists,” who “set out to destroy innocent lives” and caused $2.3 million worth of business losses following the December allegations.
The counterclaim claims that Schuman and her dad Jerome Schuman cultivated Ruth, who was “vulnerable and highly impressionable, craving attention and desperately wanting to fit in.”
