A lawsuit alleging Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter raped singer and actor Melissa Schuman has been set a trial date of 10 May 2027.
On Wednesday, Carter’s lawyer shared that any attempt at mediation over the alleged crime, which allegedly took place in Carter’s California apartment more than 20 years ago, would be pointless, Rolling Stone reports.
“The parties are so diametrically opposed in this case, I just don’t think it would be fruitful at all,” Carter’s lawyer told the court.
“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.”
Los Angeles County Superior Court Jude Lisa K Sepe-Wiesenfeld previously denied Carter’s effort to dismiss the complaint.
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 filming the made-for-TV teen horror film The Hollow. She alleges Carter fed her a sedative-laced cocktail and raped her. She was 18 at the time.
Carter denies the allegations and filed a $2.5 million (£1.86 million) cross-complaint against Schuman in July 2024.
Carter is also 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.
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 12 October 2026.
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”.
