On Wednesday (3.29) a Las Vegas judge ruled that the Backstreet Boys singer, Nick Carter, can pursue his countersuit against Shannon Ruth, the woman who sued him in December alleging that he raped her after a 2001 concert in Washington State.
After the plaintiff filed her complaint, the singer responded with a countersuit in February, claiming that he’s been the victim of a “five-year conspiracy” that aimed to “harass, defame and extort” him by exploiting the #MeToo movement.
Ruth’s attorneys argued that the countersuit violated Nevada’s anti-SLAPP law – a statute designed to prevent lawsuits filed in an effort to stifle free speech. However, Judge Nancy Alff denied that an anti-SLAPP motion was necessary and allowed Carter’s countersuit to move forward, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In her original suit, Ruth alleged that Carter had raped her following a 2001 concert, when she was 17 years old. Now 39 years old, she alleged that she waited over 20 years to speak out because the singer had threatened her with retaliation.
In a statement on Ruth’s behalf, her attorneys wrote “He told plaintiff she would go to jail if she told anyone what happened between them.” “He said that he was Nick Carter, and that he had the power to do that. Due to his various threats, plaintiff did not report Carter’s crimes for many years.”
When requesting to dismiss Carter’s countersuit, her lawyers wrote, “He seeks to use his wealth and celebrity status to outlast plaintiff… All while hiding behind being the ‘victim’ of the #MeToo movement and the preposterous notion that plaintiff is only seeking attention and publicity.”
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Author: Al Denté
Photo: Joel Telling from Snohomish, USA