Yahoo Movies ABC Yanks Backstreet Boys Christmas Special After New Rape Accusation Against Nick Carter
Following a new accusation of rape against member Nick Carter, ABC has pulled the upcoming holiday special “A Very Backstreet Holiday” from its schedule, TheWrap has confirmed. The network will instead air comedy repeats in that slot.
The special, based on the hit boy band’s latest album of Christmas songs, was recorded in Los Angeles in November and scheduled to air on ABC Dec. 14. It was also set to land on Disney+ the next day. It’s not known if the special will also be pulled from Disney+; Representatives for Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.
Variety first reported the news.
Earlier Thursday, a 39-year-old woman named Shannon Ruth filed a lawsuit against Carter, accusing him of raping her and infecting her with HPV when she was 17 years old in 2001. According to the complaint, she was given an alcoholic beverage while hanging out with Carter on the band’s tour bus, and was sexually assaulted in the bus’s bathroom.
The woman, who has cerebral palsy and says she is autistic, also accuses Carter of using slurs against disabled and sexist slurs against her. She is seeking financial damages to be determined by a court.
The lawsuit also says that three other anonymous accusers detailed incidents between 2003 and 2006.
Carter has not addressed the new allegations publicly. However he was previously accused of rape in 2017 by former teen pop singer Melissa Schuman, who said the incident happened in 2003. He denied the accusations and prosecutors declined to file charges because the statute of limitations had lifted.
