celebrity

Laura says she secretly dated a famous pop star as a teen. She alleges it ruined her life.

At 19, while most teenagers were chasing college crushes, Laura Penly says she was entangled with a pop star.

Laura claims she was casually dating Nick Carter — the frontman of the wildly successful '90s boyband, Backstreet Boys. She says it ruined her life.

In a civil complaint filed last week in Nevada, Laura accused the pop star of allegedly sexually assaulting her on two occasions while they were involved in a relationship in 2005.

Laura alleged the singer infected her with sexually transmitted diseases, including the human papillomavirus (HPV). She was diagnosed with cervical cancer the following year.

She's now the fourth woman to claim Carter sexually assaulted them. He has denied all allegations.

Watch the official trailer for the documentary, Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter. Post continues below.


Video via iD.

The pair started seeing each other in December 2004, according to the lawsuit as reported by People. Laura alleged she would travel from Oregon to visit the 25-year-old in Los Angeles "every few weeks" and the pair would have sex.

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Laura said the sex was consensual on at least three occasions and alleged Carter refused to wear a condom, leading her to think "he was 'clean' of sexually transmittable diseases".

Before Carter, Laura said she had never had unprotected sex.

In early 2005, things allegedly took a turn.

Laura claims she travelled to Carter's apartment once again, but this time with the hopes of just watching movies and spending time with the singer. However, according to the lawsuit, Carter allegedly told her no "because the only reason she was there was to have sex".

It alleged Carter picked her up and "threw her onto his bed", where he then "forcefully" assaulted her, despite her "saying 'no' multiple times", per Rolling Stone.

Laura said she was told to keep the assault a secret since no one would believe her.

Then, a few months later, Carter allegedly apologised. Laura decided to give him another chance and says she went to visit him and two of his friends.

She claims he then isolated her in a bedroom and raped her a second time.

Laura's life only continued to tumble from there.

That July, she allegedly tested positive for chlamydia and gonorrhoea, plus the human papillomavirus (commonly known as HPV). Two other women have also accused Carter of assaulting them and infecting them with HPV.

In August, Laura was diagnosed with stage 2 cervical cancer and had to undergo treatment, which caused her "severe emotional distress, physical anguish, medical issues, intimacy issues, and other complex trauma", the lawsuit states.

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She is seeking damages in excess of $US15,000 ($A24,000) for Carter's "willful and conscious disregard" for her safety and is demanding a jury trial.

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Nick Carter responds.

Carter's attorneys Liane K Wakayama and Dale Hayes Jr shut down the allegations in a statement to media.

"This is just more of the same nonsense from the gang of conspirators and their lawyers who continue to abuse the justice system to try to ruin Nick Carter," they said.

"It's drawn from the same predictable playbook — lie in wait for decades until Mr. Carter is celebrating a professional milestone, then hide behind litigation privilege to make utterly false claims in an attempt to inflict maximum damage on Nick and his family."

His lawyers said Carter does not recall meeting Laura and "certainly never had any romantic or sexual relationship with her. Ever."

"Whatever health challenges she may have faced have absolutely nothing to do with Nick. Not only will we fight this, we will be seeking sanctions against her legal team for enabling this frivolous action," they said.

The allegations come as Carter's life is back in the spotlight following the release of his new documentary, The Carters: Hurts to Love You.

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The two-part series follows Nick and Angel Carter, Aaron Carter's twin sister, as they open up about the family's road to fame and the overdose deaths of their late siblings Aaron, Leslie and Bobbie Jean Carter.

Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter in 2005. Nick Carter in 2005. Image: Getty.

Over the last few years, Carter's character has come into question after three other women accused him of sexual assault.

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In 2024, the alleged victims chose to speak out publicly in the Investigation Discovery docuseries, Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter.

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, and 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 hears from Carter's three alleged victims, 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, claimed the accusations made against him in the docuseries were baseless.

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"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.”

Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter in 2024.Nick Carter in 2024. Image: Getty.

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Here is everything Carter has been accused of.

What have 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, Schuman went on to file a lawsuit in April 2023 after the law changed earlier that year.

Carter also denied the incident was non-consensual.

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"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, Ruth, then 17, claimed 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.The Backstreet Boys announcing their Black & White Tour in 2001. Image: Getty.

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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 claimed 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 claimed 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.

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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 told her mother and the two of them reported the incident to the Southern York County law enforcement in Pennsylvania.

Backstreet Boys members Nick Carter and Aaron Carter in 2005.Nick Carter and Aaron Carter in 2005. Image: Getty.

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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.”

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

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

Carter also filed a defamation countersuit against A.R. However, a judge dismissed it in August 2024, ruling that her statements were protected.

Ruth tried to appeal to dismiss the countersuit, but this was shut down by the Nevada Supreme Court in November 2024.

In January 2025, the Nevada Supreme Court also denied Schuman's anti-SLAPP motion (a legal tool used to quickly dismiss lawsuits that are intended to silence, intimidate, or punish someone for speaking out on matters of public interest), allowing Carter's defamation claim to move forward.

The three cases are ongoing.

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

Feature image: Getty.

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