According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the lawyers representing Shannon Ruth – one of Nick Carter‘s sexual assault accusers – in her case against the Backstreet Boys singer, are asking permission to withdraw as her counsel.
Stating they can “no longer adequately represent” the plaintiff due to a “breakdown in communication on fundamental issues of the case,” Ruth claims the singer assaulted her on his tour bus in 2001 when she was 17. Carter has denied the incident ever happened.
Carter claims that Ruth (who lives with autism and cerebral palsy,) conspired with another sexual assault accuser, Melissa Schuman, to spread lies about him in an attempt to extort him for financial gain.
Alleging the pop idol invited her over to his Santa Monica apartment while they were filming the made-for-TV teen horror film The Hollow, Schuman, a former member of the pop group Dream, first sued Carter in April 2023, stating that he fed her a sedative-laced cocktail and raped her.
In July of 2024, Carter denied the allegations and filed a $2,500,000.00 cross-complaint against the songstress.
Nick is also being sued by Ashley Repp, who alleges he raped her on a yacht in 2003 when she was just 15.
The claims brought by Ruth and Repp were consolidated with those of a fourth accuser, Laura Penly, for a single trial scheduled to begin on October 12.
In a prior statement to Rolling Stone, Carter’s lawyers called the women’s allegations “nonsense” and Carter has not been charged with any crimes related to the allegations.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Huntington Beach City Jail – Public Domain