CONTENT WARNING: The following article discusses an alleged rape
Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter has responded after former singer Melissa Schuman accused him earlier this month of raping her 15 years ago.
Schuman made the accusation in a blog post, in which she wrote of an incident she said occurred when she was 18 and Carter was 22.
In a statement provided to CNN, Carter has now denied the allegation, and said he is “shocked and saddened by Ms. Schuman’s accusations”.
“Melissa never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual,” he said.
“We went on to record a song and perform together, and I was always respectful and supportive of Melissa both personally and professionally.
“This is the first that I am hearing about these accusations, nearly two decades later. It is contrary to my nature and everything I hold dear to intentionally cause someone discomfort or harm.”
Schuman said the alleged rape occurred when she and Carter were working together on a TV movie, when he invited her and a friend to his apartment.
Schuman claimed that Carted led her into a bathroom and performed oral sex on her despite her refusals, before allegedly forcing her to perform it on him. Schuman also claimed that Carter took her into a bedroom and raped her, despite her pleas that she was saving herself for marriage.
“The one thing I had held as a virtue had been ruined,” she wrote of the alleged incident. “I went limp, turned my head to my left and decided I would just go to sleep now. I wanted to believe it was some sort of nightmare I was dreaming up.”
Schuman said her experience with Carter left her “traumatized”, and led to her losing interest in pursuing a music career.
