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Nick Carter, a member of the Backstreet Boys, appears in court during a hearing at the Regional Justice Center, on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @btesfaye
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ByEstelle Atkinson/Las Vegas Review-Journal
August 14, 2024 - 1:53 pm
Updated August 14, 2024 - 7:31 pm
A judge on Tuesday dismissed a counterclaim of defamation filed by Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter after a woman accused him of sexual assault, according to the woman’s attorney.
Ashley Repp, represented by attorneys John Kawai and Margaret Mabie, filed a lawsuit against Carter alleging that he raped her on his yacht in 2003, when she was 15 years old.
Carter filed a counterclaim for defamation, arguing that Repp was part of a conspiracy alongside other women, Shannon Ruth and Melissa Schuman, who had also made allegations of sexual assault against him.
In the counterclaim, Carter admitted to having sex with Repp in 2003, saying that he had believed her to be 18 and that Repp had told him this was the case. Repp’s attorneys argued in a statement that this was an admission of statutory rape.
Repp’s motion to dismiss Carter’s counterclaim was an anti-SLAPP motion. SLAPP is short for strategic lawsuits against public participation. The motion is designed to dismiss lawsuits filed to punish someone for exercising their First Amendment rights. In Repp’s case, this was accusing someone of a crime.
“I am so thankful that the voice of my 15-year-old self is finally being heard and believed. All I ever wanted was to set myself free. I hope anyone else struggling can do the same,” Repp said in a statement shared by her attorneys.
The motion was the third anti-SLAPP motion filed against Carter “in response to his efforts at seeking due process,” his opposition statement filed with the court read.
Unlike Repp’s motion, approved by Judge Joe Hardy, Ruth’s and Schuman’s had been denied.
“More defendants are responding to sexual abuse lawsuits by suing survivors for defamation,” said Margaret Mabie, one of Repp’s attorneys, in a statement. “These attempts to scare off the truth of sexual abuse have a massive chilling effect on survivors seeking to bring claims against powerful people.”
Repp’s attorneys said in a statement that while Carter’s counterclaims in his lawsuits against Schuman and Ruth still persist, “all survivors can celebrate that Ashley Repp prevailed in defending herself against Carter.”
As Schuman’s motion to dismiss Carter’s counterclaim against her was denied in September 2023, the counterclaim remains ongoing. More recently, Carter hit Schuman with another counterclaim filed on July 26 in California, court records show.
Schuman’s attorney Karen Menzies said that the counterclaim “makes the same arguments as his stalled Nevada lawsuit, and both show that his approach to defend sexual assault claims is to attack the victims.”
Carter’s counterclaim filed in court in Los Angeles calls the allegations against him by Schuman, a member of the girl group Dream, a “despicable bid at recapturing fame.”
Carter accused Schuman of publishing a “defamatory blog” in which she described the alleged assault and sharing “defamatory statements” in press appearances.
The counterclaim lists endorsement deals with MeUndies, VRBO, Tonies and Roblox as well as a brand partnership with The Children’s Place clothing company among Carter’s losses, “costing him millions.”
“In the past 10 months alone, no less than four venues for Carter’s Who I am solo music tour substantially reduced his compensation in the wake of halted ticket sales that came on the heels of Schuman’s defamatory statements,” the cross-complaint reads.
According to Kawai, Hardy also dismissed Carter’s motion for a summary judgment in court Tuesday in the case against him by Ruth, who alleged Carter raped her on his tour bus when she was 17.
The summary judgment would have ended the case sooner rather than later, without going to trial.
“We will be filing a motion for our attorney’s fees and costs as well as any other penalty allowable under Nevada law in the meantime,” Kawai said.
Carter’s attorneys declined to comment on Tuesday’s hearing.
Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com.
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