'I believe something horrific happened': Nick Carter docuseries on the Backstreet Boy's dark streak.

This story includes descriptions of sexual assault that may be distressing to some readers.

Nick Carter is best known for being the frontman of the wildly successful '90s boy band, Backstreet Boys. However, over the last few years, his character has come under question after three women accused him of sexual assault.

Now, those alleged victims are choosing to speak out publically by taking part in the Investigation Discovery docuseries Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter.

Watch: Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter Official Trailer. Post continues below.

What is Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter about?

The four-part docuseries is about the musician and his late brother who died in 2022, explores the Carter family's dysfunctional dynamic and the negative effects of fame.

"At its core, Fallen Idols explores the accusations of sexual assault against Nick Carter by three women, while also diving into his brother, Aaron Carter’s, struggles with mental health and substance abuse – and the rift that occurred after Aaron decided to support his brother’s accusers," reads a press release.

"Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter not only offers a deeper understanding around the allegations but also chronicles the intense backlash Nick’s accusers have faced since their decision to speak publicly and the lasting impact that has had on their lives."

Who is speaking in Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter?

The docuseries will see the three victims speak out, along with Kaya Jones, Carter's ex-girlfriend and former Pussycat Dolls member, who has maintained that the women who came forward are telling the truth.

“I saw a young woman trying to speak and someone who thought he had more power and authority try to shut her up. I tweeted that,” she said. 

“It was my way of saying, ‘Don’t push it’, because he knows what I know. He knows why I left him. And so do I believe that something horrific happened to that girl? Yes. Yes I do.”

In a statement to People, Carter's attorney, Dale Hayes, has claimed that the accusations made against him in the docuseries were baseless.

"These are exactly the same outrageous claims that led us to sue this gang of conspirators," Hayes said. 

"Those cases are working their way through the legal system now, and, based on both the initial court rulings and the overwhelming evidence, we have every belief that we will prevail and hold them accountable for spreading these falsehoods.”

Here is everything Carter has been accused of.

What has Nick Carter's alleged victims accused him of?

The first accusation against Carter was made in 2017 by Melissa Schuman, a former member of the early 2000s girl band DREAM. 

Schuman alleged the singer performed oral sex on her without her consent, forced her to masturbate him and raped her.

He was 22; she was 18.

"[It’s] something that I’ve wanted to pretend never happened since I was 18," Schuman wrote in her statement. "A burden I thought I’d have to carry for the rest of my life and suffer in silence."

She was also a virgin at the time.

"I told him that I was saving myself for my future husband. I said it over and over again. He whispered in my ear as to entice me, 'I could be your husband'," Schuman wrote.

"He was relentless, refusing to take my no’s for an answer. He was heavy, too heavy to get out from under him. Then I felt it, he put something inside of me. I asked him what it was and he whispered in my ear once more, 'It’s all me baby.' It was done."

Prosecutors said they would not pursue sexual assault charges against Carter because the statute of limitations had expired, however, she did go on to file a lawsuit in April 2023 after the law changed earlier that year. 

Carter also denied the incident was non-consensual.

"I am 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 in a statement at the time. 

"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 remained silent about the alleged assault for years but came forward after seeing online "victim shaming" of an unidentified woman who accused Carter and a friend of sexually assaulting her at a house party in 2006. 

Carter’s representative said the woman "fabricated the claims" as she was hoping to "extort money from him".

The next accusation came in December 2022, by a former fan named Shannon Ruth, who filed a lawsuit against Carter for sexual battery following an alleged incident in 2001.

According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, Shannon Ruth, then 17, claims the singer, then 21, invited her onto the band's tour bus after a concert on their Black & Blue world tour and sexually assaulted her.

The Backstreet Boys announcing their Black & White Tour in 2001. Image: Getty.

The documents state that Carter asked Ruth, who has autism and cerebral palsy, if she wanted a drink. When she asked for apple juice, the singer said they only had cranberry juice and offered that to her.

Ruth claims the red-coloured drink, which Carter called "VIP juice", tasted "off", but drank it to not be rude. She now believes it contained alcohol.

The lawsuit alleges Carter took Ruth into the tour bus' bathroom and ordered her to perform oral sex on him. She cried throughout but he allegedly instructed her to continue.

Ruth claims Carter then took her to a bed and continued assaulting her, called her a "r*tarded little bitch" and said no one would believe her if she told anyone what had happened.

According to the documents, Ruth was also a virgin at the time and contracted HPV after the incident. 

"Just because Nick Carter is a celebrity does not mean that he is excused from his crimes," Ruth said at a press conference at the time.

"I am a survivor and always will be."

The third woman to come forward goes by the initials A.R. in her lawsuit. She accused Carter of raping her multiple times when she was just 15 years old, detailing a time when the singer allegedly assaulted her on a yacht and "instructed" her to keep it "secret". 

The lawsuit further detailed another incident in which A.R. claimed that Carter "knowingly provided alcohol and drugs" and encouraged three other men to watch him "engaging in sexual intercourse with then-minor A.R. from a vantage point of an outside window in the cabin of Carter's yacht."

She, like Ruth, also accused Carter of infecting her with HPV.

After the alleged crime took place, A.R. stated that she had told her mother and the two of them reported the incident to the Southern York County law enforcement in Pennsylvania.

After the lawsuit came to light, Carter's lawyer, Hayes, categorically denied the accusations.

“When A.R. first accused Nick Carter almost two decades ago, authorities listened and thoroughly investigated – and then informed A.R. that her allegations were meritless," he said. 

“And now she’s at it yet again. But repeating the same false allegations in a new legal complaint doesn’t make them any more true. Nick is looking forward to the evidence being presented and the truth about these malicious schemes coming to light.”

In February 2023, Carter filed a countersuit against both Ruth and Schuman, describing the two women as "opportunists" who are looking to defame his character. According to Carter, the alleged victims were capitalising off the #MeToo movement and the former boy band member lost $2.3 million in business after the accusations came to light.

He further claimed that he has no recollection of meeting Ruth and that Schuman and her father "groomed" her after discovering she has autism and cerebral palsy, as that makes her "a vulnerable and highly impressionable individual, craving attention and desperate to fit in." 

The three cases are ongoing.

When will Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter be released in Australia?

Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter is set to air in the US over two nights, on May 27 and 28. In Australia, it is expected to premiere on Friday, June 7 on Foxtel, Fetch and Binge.

This article was originally published on December 9, 2022, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature image: Getty.