A Nevada judge has recently ruled against Shannon Ruth, a woman who accused Nick Carter of raping her on a tour bus back in 2001. The case was brought to court after Ruth filed her lawsuit in 2022, claiming that the alleged incident occurred after a concert in Tacoma when she was just 17 years old.
Carter has denied Ruth’s claims and has taken legal action of his own, filing a counterclaim for defamation. On November 26, the Nevada Supreme Court judge, Nancy L. Allf, denied Ruth’s motion that aimed to halt Carter’s counterclaim. The judge stated that Ruth did not provide enough details to support her case.
The court documents explained that Ruth failed to specifically identify any statements relevant to her anti-SLAPP motion, which is a legal measure intended to protect against lawsuits that could suppress free speech. As a result, Carter’s defamation counterclaim is allowed to continue.
In February 2023, Carter filed a counterclaim against Ruth and another woman, Melissa Schuman, who also accused him of sexual assault. He alleged that the two women were exploiting the #MeToo movement to damage his reputation and gain public attention or monetary compensation.
When Ruth appealed, Carter’s legal team argued that the events she described could not have occurred on the tour bus as she claimed. They maintained that it would have been impossible for any fans to have been alone with the band members during that time.
Carter’s team presented testimonies from several people, including security personnel who supported his version of events. They claimed that Ruth would not have been able to wait in an autograph line after the concert, as one never existed. Evidence also suggested that Carter was quickly brought to a hotel right after the event.
In the midst of his counterclaim, Carter’s lawyers requested that the court disregard parts of Ruth’s testimony, arguing that her inconsistent details about the alleged assault weaken her credibility.
Ruth’s lawyers have not commented on the recent developments in the case. Nick Carter has faced multiple allegations of sexual assault from different women since 2017, including Ruth and Schuman, and he continues to deny all allegations against him.
