Nick Carter is fighting back against accusations of sexual assault.
On Feb. 2, the Backstreet Boys member filed a countersuit against Shannon “Shay” Ruth after she sued him in December for alleged sexual battery. He is also suing Melissa Schuman, a former teen pop singer with the girl group Dream, who accused him of rape in 2017.
In court documents obtained by E! News, Carter’s attorney accused both Ruth and Schuman of trying to “harass, defame and extort” his client.
The countersuit alleges the two women took advantage of the #MeToo movement and used it to launch a five-year conspiracy to “defame and vilify Carter and otherwise ruin his reputation for the purposes of garnering attention and fame and/or extorting money from Carter.”
The filing also called Schuman and Ruth “opportunists,” claiming that they were set out to “destroy innocent lives” and caused more than $2.3 million in business losses.