Howie D, Kevin Richardson, Nick Carter, AJ McLean and Brian Littrell, of the Backstreet Boys.
Howie D, Kevin Richardson, Nick Carter, AJ McLean and Brian Littrell, of the Backstreet Boys.
Warning: Contains details of alleged sexual assault
A Backstreet Boys Christmas television special has been axed amid rape allegations against singer Nick Carter.
A Very Backstreet Holiday, which was to feature the group’s songs from their latest album of the same name and was scheduled for a December 14 broadcast, has been dropped by ABC after the sexual assault claims, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The outlet said: “The decision to pull the special follows a lawsuit filed Thursday alleging that Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter raped a 17-year-old fan on his tour bus after a 2001 concert in Tacoma, Washington.”
Carter, 42, is accused of the historic sexual assaults of a total of four women. They include Shannon “Shay” Ruth, who said earlier this week that she was raped by the singer in 2001 when she was a virgin after he allegedly plied her with an alcoholic mix she says he called “VIP juice”.
Ruth’s lawyer Mark J Boskovich said three other women - who identified publicly only as Jane Doe - are also included in a joint sexual assault lawsuit filed alongside his client.
Nick Carter has been accused of assaulting four women. Photo / Getty Images
Ruth says as a result of the alleged rape by Carter, she was told she had a sexually transmitted disease. A second alleged victim, Doe 1 - who was allegedly raped by the singer in 2003 - was also reported to have been left with an STD, specified as HPV in court documents cited by the New York Post.
The news outlet added that a complaint filed in Clark County District Court, Nevada, where Carter lives, shows “another victim identified as Doe 2 said she and Carter had sex multiple times when she was 15 years old”.
The publication said court documents claim despite knowing the girl’s age, the singer, then 23, still gave her alcohol.
The documents went on to reveal the lawsuit also claims Carter sexually assaulted a woman identified as Doe 3 at a house party in Key West, Florida.
On Friday, Carter’s lawyer slammed rape claims against the singer as ”entirely untrue”.
Attorney Michael Holtz told New York Post’s Page Six column in a statement about Ruth’s allegations: “This claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue.
”Unfortunately, for several years now, Ms Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick – and those allegations have changed repeatedly and materially over time.
”No one should be fooled by a press stunt orchestrated by an opportunistic lawyer – there is nothing to this claim whatsoever, which we have no doubt the courts will quickly realise.”
A Facebook live-streamed press conference held by Ruth on Thursday saw her tearfully allege Carter raped her on a Backstreet Boys tour bus when she was a virgin, after she had waited for an autograph.
Ruth, who suffers from autism and cerebral palsy, is also said to claim she got a sexually transmitted infection after the incident and is seeking monetary damages.
