Honk News – Nick Carter achieved a significant win in his ongoing legal dispute with Melissa Schuman, who has accused him of rape.
The Nevada Supreme Court has sided with Carter, rejecting an anti-SLAPP motion from Melissa Schuman and her father Jerry for the second time, allowing Carter, 45, to continue with his defamation counterclaim against them.
The court determined that Carter presented enough evidence indicating that the Schumans made defamatory statements while being aware of their falsehood or with a blatant disregard for the truth, as stated in documents acquired by PEOPLE. The district court’s decision to deny the anti-SLAPP special motion to dismiss was not a mistake. As a result, we direct that the decision of the district court be upheld.
Schuman, formerly a member of the girl group Dream, initially made allegations against Carter in a blog post from 2017, claiming that he raped her in his Santa Monica apartment in 2003 when she was an 18-year-old virgin. He refuted the claims back then, asserting that although he had engaged in sexual relations with Schuman, it was consensual.
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In February 2023, Schuman was included in a countersuit filed by Carter against Shannon Ruth, who had previously accused the star of sexual battery two months prior. In his countersuit, the singer claimed that both women exploited the movement to orchestrate a conspiracy aimed at “defaming and vilifying” him for their own gain and notoriety.
Ruth, Schuman, and her father submitted anti-SLAPP motions to dismiss Carter’s counterclaim; however, a Nevada judge rejected Schuman’s motion in August 2023. Ruth’s request was also rejected, and both women sought to challenge the decision; the verdict on Ruth’s request was confirmed in November, while Schuman’s was upheld on Tuesday.
The decision indicated that Schuman’s motion against the strategic lawsuit was rejected, as “while the Schumans satisfied their obligation on the initial aspect of the framework, Carter fulfilled his requirement on the subsequent aspect.” The initial aspect pertains to the right to express oneself, whereas the subsequent one requires Carter to demonstrate “proof of a likelihood of succeeding on the claim.”
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In April 2023, Schuman filed a lawsuit against Carter, accusing him of sexual assault and battery related to an incident that allegedly occurred in 2003. At that time, his lawyer claimed that Schuman’s accusations were “untrue” and merely a “public relations maneuver,” leading Carter to file a countersuit against Schuman for $2.5 million in August 2024.
The artist is gearing up to kick off a fresh segment of his Who I Am Tour in India on February 7, with performances lined up until May.