The lawsuit alleging Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter raped singer and actress Melissa Schuman in his California apartment more than 20 years ago received a trial date on Wednesday as Carter’s lawyer said any attempt at mediation would be pointless.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Jude Lisa K. Sepe-Wiesenfeld set the jury trial for May 10, 2027, calling it a “firm” date that wouldn’t move without good cause. The same judge previously denied Carter’s effort to dismiss the complaint. He had argued it belonged in Las Vegas, where he was already suing Schuman for allegedly conspiring with two other rape accusers to harass, defame, and extort him. But Sepe-Wiesenfeld said Schuman had properly filed her lawsuit in Los Angeles County, noting Schuman alleges Carter raped her in Santa Monica in 2003, and that the Santa Monica Police Department investigated the claim.
When Sepe-Wiesenfeld gave a January 2027 deadline for the parties to attempt mediation, Carter’s lawyer asked for a “futility exception.” In a joint status report filed last week, Schuman’s lawyers agreed mediation seemed useless.
“The parties are so diametrically opposed in this case, I just don’t think it would be fruitful at all,” Carter’s lawyer, Dale Hayes Jr., told the court Wednesday morning. “This is a sex assault case where one side claims she was sexually assaulted, and the other side claims she’s making it up. There’s just no wiggle room there.” The judge said she still expected them to try.
Schuman, a former member of the pop group DREAM, first sued Carter in April 2023. She alleges the pop idol invited her over to his Santa Monica apartment while they were cast as co-stars in the 2004 made-for-TV teen horror film The Hollow. She alleges Carter fed her a sedative-laced cocktail and performed oral sex on her, over her protests, before raping her on a twin bed. She was 18 at the time while Carter was about 23, according to her lawsuit.
“[Schuman] told him over and over that she was a virgin, that she was saving herself for her future husband, and that she did not want to have sex. Carter continued to force himself on her, whispering in her ear that he could be her husband,” her lawsuit alleges. “[She] could not get away from him, he was too heavy. Defendant Carter forced vaginal penetration of plaintiff. Plaintiff went limp and disassociated.”
Carter, 45, denies the allegations and filed a $2.5 million cross-complaint against Schuman in July 2024, accusing her of defamation and claiming she fabricated the alleged assault to extort money. He alleges he and Schuman were “flirtatious with one another” throughout the time in question and “ultimately engaged in consensual sex.” He says Schuman “happily and enthusiastically” agreed to perform a musical duet with him at a subsequent live music showcase.
In the 2024 Investigation Discovery docuseries Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter, Schuman alleges she felt pressured into recording the duet with Carter by her management at the time. She further claims she didn’t know Carter would be at the showcase until it was too late.
Carter also is being sued by Shannon “Shay” Ruth, a woman who alleges Carter sexually assaulted her on a tour bus in February 2001, and Ashley Repp, who alleges Carter raped her on a yacht in 2003 when she was 15 years old. Repp initially filed as a Jane Doe but later stepped forward with her full identity when she participated in Fallen Idols.
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 Oct. 12, 2026. Penly filed a lawsuit in Nevada last April that alleges Carter sexually assaulted her on two occasions while they were involved in a relationship in 2005, while she was 19 and he was 25. According to Penly, she had consensual sex with Carter about three times before he allegedly “dismissed” her refusal on a fourth occasion. She claims Carter picked up off the ground and “threw her onto his bed” before forcefully raping her. Carter denies the claims.
In a Dec. 12 court filing, Penly and her lawyers made an offer to settle her claims for $1 million. They said the proposal was made to encourage a resolution and was “not to be construed as an admission of any kind whatsoever.”
“Nick is not paying any of these extortionists,” Hayes said in a statement sent to Rolling Stone. “He has been rejecting their settlement demands since even before the lawsuits started, some demands being nominal in nature. Penly’s demand is no different. Nick ignored it.”
Carter’s separate defamation claim against Repp was tossed out in August 2024. A hearing on Carter’s motion for partial summary judgment against Repp’s claims is set for Feb. 9.
Carter has not been charged with any crimes related to the allegations. In a prior statement to Rolling Stone, his lawyers called the women’s allegations “nonsense.” The attorneys said the four plaintiffs were part of a “gang of conspirators” putting pressure on Carter during a resurgence in his career linked to the 25th anniversary of the Backstreet Boys’ Millennium album. They claimed Carter has no memory of ever meeting Penly and never had a sexual relationship with her.
“Nick Carter is a violent sexual predator who tries to attack and intimidate his survivors when they speak out. I’m not afraid of his aggressive tactics and lies,” Schuman previously told Rolling Stone. “He should be ready for what happens when his lies are exposed under the microscope of the court. I look forward to his deposition in my case.”
According to a recent court filing, Carter’s deposition in Schuman’s lawsuit is set for March 2 through March 4. Schuman’s is scheduled to begin Feb. 24.
