Nick Carter Skips Question About Rape Allegation Before Jingle Ball In New York

Nick Carter skipped a question about a recent rape allegation made against him.

The 42-year-old Backstreet Boys singer was exiting a vehicle in New York to attend the Jingle Ball where he and his bandmates were performing when photographers asked for a response in relation to a new lawsuit.

In a new sexual battery lawsuit against Carter, Shannon ‘Shay’ Ruth claims that she was assaulted by Nick after a concert in Tacoma, Washington in February 2001 after he allegedly gave her alcohol and proceeded to assault her when she was 17.

She alleges that out of a line of autograph seekers, he picked her and invited her onto a tour bus, provided her with “VIP juice” — her belief is the drink was a mixture of cranberry juice and alcohol. Following the alleged sexual assault, Ruth details that she contracted “the human papillomavirus (commonly known as HPV), a sexually transmitted infection known to cause health problems such as genital warts and cervical cancer,”.

In response to the allegation, Michael Holtz, the attorney for Carter, says, “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.”

As a result of the newly filed lawsuit in Clark County, Nevada, on Thursday, ABC will no longer broadcast a Backstreet Boys television special titled A Very Backstreet Holiday that was due to air on December 14.