Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter Recap
-This series examines allegations of sexual assault. Parts may be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
-The sexual assault allegations against Nick Carter discussed in this show are the subject of ongoing litigation. The views expressed are those of the accusers alone.
-Carter has denied the allegations and questioned his accusers’ credibility.
-Nick declined to be interviewed for the documentary.
PART 1–TEENAGE DREAMS
-I had no idea the Backstreet Boys had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
-Melissa Schuman is a former pop star who is best known for being in the girl band Dream. She and her father talk about her hopes and dreams of being a singer. Despite being raised conservative and not being allowed to watch MTV, she was chosen to be in the group Dream by what she calls a ‘fluke.’
-Dream was a girl next door type of band that was fun, cute and thought to be the female counterpart to NSYNC. They quickly skyrocketed to fame quickly and had what was then considered to be a ‘virginal’ image.
-Melissa remembers feeling pressure to be thin and to date a boy bander. At the time Justin Timberlake was with Britney Spears and Nick Lachey was with Jessica Simpson. It was expected that Melissa would date Nick Carter and they would become a power couple.
-Nick, for his part, was the most popular BSB member a the time. He was using his love of music and fame to get out of a bad home life.
-John Spaulding, Nick’s cousin, remembers Nick loving to perform from a young age. The two of them had grown up together in Jamestown, NY. John recalls Nick’s parents having issues and that at one point, Nick moved in with John’s family.
-Nick wrote about his family disfunction in his book, where he detailed his parents’ drinking problems and financial issues. They would then push the kids into the entertainment business in order to make money.
-In 1992, Lou Pearlman put together the boy band known as BSB in Florida. Producer Bob Curiano remembers the band starting out on a local TV show and compared Nick to a young Michael Jackson.
-By 1997, MTV was looking for the next big thing, which led to the band skyrocketing to fame with their song and video for Quit Playing Games With My Heart. Girls instantly fell in love with them and a crew of superfans were born.
-2001 rolled around. Melissa’s team wanted her to be with Nick, despite the fact that she already had a boyfriend. She was pushed to take the call, even though she made it clear she wasn’t interested. This did not make her team happy because she was expected to do what she was told…..dating a guy she was not interested, being sexualized and holding onto a virginal image.
-The pressure got to be too much for Melissa, so she left the group and went into acting. She got a job in the movie The Hollow, which also starred Nick. At the time, the band was dealing with AJ McLean’s addiction issues, so while he was in rehab, Nick worked on some solo products.
-Melissa claims that Nick invited her to play video games and allowed her to bring one of her other friends. What would follow would completely change her life.
-Melissa takes a producer on a tour of where Nick lived and what happened on that fateful night. She remembers being on the road with her friend Rachel and Nick and how he told his friend to buy them booze.
-At the apartment, Nick made them drinks. Melissa felt pressure to drink, but admitted she was 18 and naive, so she didn’t know any better. She took her drink and listened to Nick’s music with him. In his studio, she claims he made her sit on his lap and began kissing her. He then took her into the bathroom and tries to take things further. She began to protest, but he kept taking things further, performing oral sex on her against her will and pressured her to do the same. When she refused, he allegedly got angry and forced her to do other sexual acts. Melissa claims he then took her into the bedroom and raped her.
-Nick and his friend Tony Bass, who was at the house that night, claim the encounter was consensual in a statement.
-The next morning, Melissa and Rachel left. Melissa talked to Rachel’s mom, who told her she was raped. Rachel’s mom told her to go to the police and get a rape kit, but Melissa was in denial. Nick then texted her and asked her why she made him do it. At this point, Melissa wanted to go to the police, but her manager told her Nick had the most powerful litigator in the country and there was no way this would work in her favor.
-Melissa’s dad Jerry recalls her telling him. He reacted like any dad would and wanted to take action against Nick, but respected Melissa’s decision to not do anything. Melissa continued the movie and then changed her contact info when it wrapped.
-At this point, gossip blogs began taking off. Nick’s life would be followed and he was now connected with Paris Hilton.
-Melissa tried to launch a solo career, only to find out her new manager Kenneth Crear was close to Nick. Kenneth told her Nick wanted her for a duet song he was doing and assured her everything would be fine since he was dating Paris. Melissa did the duet despite her misgivings and worked on getting her record deal. However, she soon learned that Nick would be singing at the showcase she would be doing.
-The two would sing the duet at the showcase, but it would soon lead to Nick getting a new deal and Melissa being dropped from her label. She was heartbroken that he was getting all this special treatment and she was left with nothing. She admits to being cold toward him and that the last words he said to her were that he knew they didn’t like each other.
-Kenneth disputed Melissa’s claims Melissa made about the duet and her manager claims she never told him about the assault.
-In 2004, rumors circulated that Nick allegedly beat up Paris Hilton, along with pictures of her with bruised. He denied all claims and an article was released where Nick claimed Paris ‘disliked sex’ and needed drugs and alcohol to enjoy it and that he would be too wasted to perform when they were together.
-Melissa claims that it took a long time and a lot of therapy to finally get into another relationship and get married. She is now a wife and mom to a son named Elin.
-She still feels a lot of pain while trying to find forgiveness. It wasn’t until the #MeToo movement that she finally felt safe enough to speak out publicly. She also googled ‘Nick Carter sexual assault’ and found that there were more victims. She wrote a blog post about it and with the help of her husband, published it for the world to see. Little did she know what would happen to her when people read the blog.
Documents from the case can be found on fallenidolsdocumentary.com
PART 2: INTO THE DARKNESS
-On November 3, 2017, Melissa saw the aftermath of her blog post. She admits many people were kind, but she also faced a lot of backlash and accusations that she was lying and looking for attention.
-The media got wind of this and Nick released a statement that everything that happened between them was consensual and that they even worked together on the duet. Nick was given support by his fellow band members and fans, with the #IStandWithNickCarter hashtag trending.
-The band was bigger and better than ever, with fans defending him and ready to protect him against the allegations.
-Meanwhile, Melissa was getting death threats and told to kill herself. Bloggers and YouTubers would make fun of her and demean Melissa, claiming she wanted attention. Molly Golightly would mock Melissa and even talk about her own (consensual) encounters with Nick, while his Dancing With the Stars partner Sharna Burgess went on record to defend him.
-Jerry would continue to go to bat to defend Melissa, especially when she was doxxed and her private address and number were released to the public. Melissa would get harassed continuously, while Molly (aka Marissa) would continue to mock her. Things got to bad that Melissa had to call a suicide hotline for help.
-Kaya Jones, Nick’s ex-girlfriend, also saw Melissa’s post and the outfall. However, she wanted to hear Melissa’s side and called her. The two talked for hours and Kaya would soon join Melissa’s side, threatening to expose what she knew about Nick.
-Kaya is a former member of The Pussycat Dolls and was dating Nick at the height of her fame. The two met while rehearsing together and quickly began living together. The two became very close and he helped her through a tough part of her life.
-Kaya claims that while Nick never hit her, he was very controlling and had a violent temper, even breaking her phone at one point. She also claims that he would force her to watch porn and got angry when she said no. She declined to elaborate on what else happened during that incident.
-In 2017, another girl named Ashley read Melissa’s blog, claimed that she was also assaulted by Nick as a teenager. In 2001, she was a shy teenager who loved BSB. Her friend was friends with the Carters and introduced her to the family, leading to her become friends with Nick’s sister Angel.
-During this time, Nick and Angel’s brother Aaron was also skyrocketing into fame as well.
-Angel invited Ashley to stay with her family in Florida in 2003. Her mom Kim wasn’t quite sure about this since Ashley was only fifteen but agreed to let her go after talking to Bob Carter. He’d assured her that the kids would be chaperoned, but that would soon prove to be a life.
-During this time, Aaron and Nick’s house was featured on Cribs. This made Ashley even more excited, especially when she realized this meant they would have lots of freedom on the trip.
-John recalls also visiting and how it was a huge party weekend with lots of drinking. Ashley recalls them all drinking as well and that at one point, Nick began kissing and touching her. She claims the two had sex and that Angel got mad when she found out, telling her to stay away from her brother.
-On the last night of the trip, there was more drinking. Nick allegedly forced her to perform oral sex and she claims they again had unprotected sex.
-After Ashley got home, she got another invite from Angel, who claimed she needed her friend due to her parents’ divorce. Kim let her go against her better judgement.
-A family friend named Jen claims that the Carter parents were using the kids for money and the divorce only made things worse.
-Ashley would become close with Aaron and would try and date. However, they decided to remain friends.
-On this trip, Ashley claims she and Nick had sex again even though she said no….and that party guests were watching.
-Ashley told Aaron what happened and he took her side, saying she was not the first victim.
-When Ashley came home, Kim knew something was wrong and was floored when she realized that what happened. They would file a police report. It came out that Ashley allegedly said she was eighteen, which was a strike against her. However, she claims things in the report were twisted. At this point, there was no proof, so nothing could be done.
-Ashley spiraled out of control, turning to drugs and booze to cope.
-It wasn’t until Aaron stood up and reached out to Melissa that things began to change. He told her about Ashley and offered his support.
PART 3: OH, AARON
–Aaron reached out to Melissa and helped her speak out against Nick. He claims on a viral video that he was abused by Nick and that he knows there are more women who are victims.
-Aaron became famous at nine and had hits like Aaron’s Party and I Want Candy under his belt before he was even a teenager. While he was Nick’s brother, he was often on his own.
-There was one concert where Nick surprised Aaron because he knew he missed him.
-John claims that despite the brothers loving each other, there was often a lot of problems.
-Jane Carter was the stereotypical stage mom and pushed Aaron into the business once Nick became famous. Lou Pearlman was involved in both brothers’ careers and it would soon come to light that he was abusing them Nick denied the allegations, but Jane thought there was something sinister going on.
-John thinks Jane sold her sons out for fame and they paid the price. He hated how it ruined their lives and put pressure on the boys to make money for the family. She would also pit the brothers against each other, causing even more problems for the brothers and ruining their relationship.
-Aaron would soon end up on Broadway, performing in Suessical the Musical. Despite the success, there was a lot of pressure on him.
-While on Broadway, he found out his parents went on vacation without him, causing him to break down and threaten to take his life with a knife.
-Kaya claimed that Nick would get out of control when drunk and had several arrests and DUIs as a result. John recalls the Carters smoking weed, but didn’t see any harder drugs. However, Jen recalls Aaron and Bob huffing paint and taking Xanax, with John backing up the claims.
-Aaron soon claimed that Jane embezzled millions from him and filed for emancipation. It never went through and things went bad to worse, with several horrific moments being shown on the show House of Carters.
-Ashley claims that this was real, for she saw it all with her own eyes.
-Leslie, another sister, also struggled with Xanax, which ultimately killed her at the age of 25. Jane blamed Nick for her death, saying he had the money to help her. Aaron saw this and soon ended up falling out with Nick.
-The brothers began to spiral until Nick went into therapy. His wife Lauren went with him and several moments were documented on their show I heart Nick Carter.
-Aaron continued to struggle with addiction and mental health issues, all the while just anting to be loved.
-Lina Valentina is Aaron’s ex-girlfriend. She claims he was good when sober, but the drugs turned him into a demon. She says that he was happiest when sober and even reconnected with his family–until he relapsed while on tour. He would go on Instagram Live and make erratic videos, scaring everyone. Nick and Angel tried to get him help, but Aaron refused.
-Aaron also went on to threaten to kill Nick, his wife Lauren and their unborn child. This resulted on a restraining order.
-Despite all this, the alleged victims and Aaron banded together. He would continue to post things online supporting the women and showing Nick in a bad light. This would lead to him being bullied and trolled online and in turn, him becoming more unhinged.
-Molly Golightly and Aaron end up in cahoots with her claiming to be his life coach. He then went on a video with her and claimed Melissa was a liar and was never raped.
-Melissa and Jerry claimed they understood that he was doing this for his own protection, but cut off communication.
-Melanie Martin, Aaron’s ex-fiancé and baby mama, says that when they met, things were amazing, but soon took a turn for the worse when he fell deeper into his addiction.
-Aaron would continue to spiral and ended up with a lot of online harassment, including one called Ganval. He would hire a PI to help him figure out who was stalking him online. Ganval did a live stream with Lauren, which caused even more issues….especially when she donated money to Ganval.
-Jane and Lauren declined to comment on this.
PART 4: SILENCED AND SPEAKING OUT
-Things began to look up for Aaron once his son Prince was born. He seemed to settle down and enjoyed being a family man.
-His assistant Gwen says this changed was short lived. Aaron continued to receive harassment online as he tried to bring his brother down.
-More and more people, including Melissa, saw his downward spiral and tried to help him, even getting law enforcement involved. Melissa tried to get his family involved, but there was no helping him. Aaron continued to spiral more and more out of control, even going on a show recanting the support he had for his victims. The entire time, he was under the influence, scaring those around him.
-On November 5, 2022, Aaron was found dead on his home. The death was declared accidental.
-Melissa recalls learning about his death and how they trauma bonded. Ashley echoed his sentiments, saying he never had the chance to get his life together.
-John was in denial about Aaron’s death at first and wishes he had more time. He thinks they all could have done more, but Aaron had to want the help.
-Melanie now has the job of raising Prince as a single mom and preserving Aaron’s legacy.
-Jane continues to pit Aaron and Nick against each other, even though Aaron is dead. The entire family continued to spiral, with Aaron’s sister Bobbie Jean dying of a drug overdose in December 2023.
-On December 8, 2022, another victim came forward, claiming to have been assaulted against Nick. She was the first to file a lawsuit against Nick…her name is Shannon ‘Shay’ Ruth.
-Shay is autistic and has cerebral palsy. In 2001, she went to a BSB concert with her friend Eleanor and waited to get an autograph after the concert. She claims that Nick invited her to visit the tour bus, where he offered to show her around. He then allegedly got her a glass of cranberry juice, aka ‘special VIP juice,’ aka a spiked drink. He followed her into the bathroom and allegedly demanded oral sex. She felt overwhelmed and confused…..and then claims he took her to his bed and assaulted her. She had threatened to tell, but he told her that no one would believe her since he is Nick Carter and that she would go to jail.
-Nick has denied the allegations, while witnesses contradicted her account in sworn testimony. Shay also said that she could not recall what she said in this interview during her deposition.
-Shay claims she blocked it out until she heard other stories.
-Dr. Vallerie days that a lot of people have trouble recalling sexual assault unless they have triggers.
-Shay claims she didn’t start getting memories or flashbacks until she was in her thirties.
-Dr. Vallerie, who did not treat Shay, says that is it very possible Shay is telling the truth.
-Melissa was introduced to Shay and slowly began to hear bits and pieces of her story.
-Shay remembers her initial police report, which she filed in 2019. She claimed that Nick grabbed her arm, but didn’t mention the sexual assault. She amended her report nine months later.
-After an investigation, prosecutors refused to file charges.
-After Shay went public in 2022 and filed a lawsuit, Nick was investigated and a BSB special was cancelled, much to the chagrin of his fans.
-Nine weeks after the lawsuit was filed, Nick filed a countersuit, naming other victims, including Melissa. It alleged that they conspired to defame and vilify him.
-The suit claimed that Melissa and Jerry exploited Aaron and groomed Shay to vilify Nick. They all deny these claims.
-Melissa was finally able to file her own lawsuit in January 2023 due to the change in the statute of limitations in California.
-During an interview, Nick said he could not say anything now, but once he is able, he will talk.
-Melissa and Shay both filed to have the counterclaim dismissed. both thinking that it is there to silence them.
-Several people, including Tony, came forward denying the claims from the girls and therefore, kept the counterclaim in place.
-Jerry and Melissa both vow to see this through to the end and to bring him to justice.
-Ashley would soon file her own lawsuit against Nick.
-Lori Majewski, co-founder of Teen People says that back then, women didn’t have a voice and were called liars if they accused someone of sexual assault. She is glad that #metoo has been a step forward for victims.
-Kaya says that she wants both sides of the story to be told so the truth can finally come out.
-Ashley hopes her kids never have to face what she did.
-Melissa is hoping for justice and to be free from this.
-Shay hopes other survivors can be free of the weight of dealing with assault.
-As of today, the lawsuit against Nick is still pending. Nick maintains his innocence and asked the court to enter judgement dismissing Shay’s claim. He has also filed a counterclaim against Ashley, claiming she is conspiring with the other women to defame him.
-Jane and Lauren declined to comment.
-Documents for the cases can be found on fallenidolsdocumentary.com
-If you or someone you know needs treatment for substance use or mental health related treatment, please visit findtreatment.gov or call 1-800-622-HELP
-If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, please visit online.rainn.org or call 1-800-656-HOPE
