All language subtitles for Fallen.Idols.Nick.and.Aaron.Carter.S01E01.1080p.WEB.h264-FREQUENCY

I want to thank everybody for
sticking with us throughout the years.

Through the ups and the downs

and the rollercoaster
ride that we put you on.

I'm sorry about some of it.

Um...

But I guess I wanted to just cap it
off by saying that Backstreet is back.

And we aren't going anywhere.

What's up, MTV?

I've been hiding a
secret for well over a decade.

We love you,
Backstreet Boys!

Since that night, I've
been stuck in my worst nightmare.

I have no choice but to fight.

But now, here I am.

You're not gonna silence me.

I'm gonna tell my story.

Nick
Carter of the Backstreet Boys

is facing allegations
of sexual assault.

His accuser is a
former pop singer.

She shared the allegations
on her personal blog.

She claims
that Nick Carter raped her.

It opened up the
Pandora's Box of Secrets.

The Carter family
dysfunction is deep,

made worse by money

and fame and jealousy.

Being a part of a famous family,
it's hard to get to the truth.

I guess the best word to
describe it would be lawlessness.

It got so much darker
than I could have ever imagined.

Nick Carter faces
new allegations of sexual assault.

The truth is all gonna come out.

There's things that
I know about Nick

that could burn this house down.

My name
is Melissa Schuman.

I've been wanting to be a singer

since as long as
I could remember.

I just loved it so much.

Melissa
is my first born,

and the kid was
born to entertain

from literally, probably
three years old on.

You know, she loved to sing.

She loved to interact
with people and perform.

A young lady by the
name of Melissa Schuman.

It was amazing
to watch her talent grow.

The household that I grew
up in was more conservative.

We weren't allowed to watch MTV.

So the opportunity to audition
for Dream was a fluke.

I was 12 years old and there
was hundreds of women and girls.

I went in there
and I sang my song.

I was one of four
girls called back,

and that was the beginning of
what would end up being Dream.

In the late '90s,
pop music came back in vogue.

Boy bands suddenly were huge.

Girl groups were huge.

Young female pop stars
like Britney Spears,

Christina Aguilera and
Mandy Moore were huge.

After the
success of several boy bands,

Puff Daddy comes to my office

so that we could hear from
his new girl group, Dream.

They were adorable.

They were the girls next door.

This is our first
video. "He Loves U Not".

Walking onto this set
on a big soundstage,

it was really fun.

I mean, that was NSYNC's
cube from "Bye Bye Bye".

And we were aware of it,

like we might be like
the next female NSYNC.

Our song took off.

I remember me and
the girls screaming,

you know, hearing "He
Loves U Not" on KISS FM.

Wazzup?

It was like,
"Wow, this is happening."

The rapid rise of Dream was
kind of crazy for the parents

because most of us were home.

And they're going to be
on Good Morning America.

They're gonna be
on Regis and Kelly.

Dream with "He Loves U Not".

Dream.

They're
gonna be on NBC.

Girls, nice job, you guys.

Thank you.

To be on TRL was
like the church of music.

To, like, be on the set
and be able to, you know,

waving at your fans
outside the window.

I mean, there was
no better feeling.

There was so much expectation,

and there was so much talk
about these four girls

whose image was very young
and virginal and innocent.

Like sexy but not too sexy.

There was a lot of pressure
to be incredibly fit,

and oftentimes, someone would
come in and have us do weigh ins.

I barely ate.

I was very aware of
the business of it.

And I remember around the
time I was about 15 or 16,

we were on tour with NSYNC

and the label really
wanted one of us

to date one of these guys
in a... in a boy band.

When two celebrities date,
it's not like publicity,

one plus one equals two.

It's like one plus
one equals ten.

It seemed to be a really
big priority for these guys.

And then I found
out that Nick Carter

from the Backstreet Boys
really wants to talk to me.

Nick Carter was
a massive, massive star.

He was definitely the most recognizable
face of the Backstreet Boys.

Nick looked at
me. Oh, I nearly died.

He was
also the youngest.

And Nick, from
what I understand,

saw pop music as his
ticket out of a home life

that was kind of sketchy.

Nick was
always eager to perform.

Loved playing music,
loved singing.

I think we all saw that
he was gonna go somewhere.

I'm Nick's oldest cousin.

My dad's sister, Jane
Carter is Nick's mother.

Okay, so this is a picture
of the Carter family.

This is Jean,
Aaron, Bobbie Jean,

Angel, Nick, Bob and Leslie.

Well, there's one of Nick
and I in the bathtub.

When we were younger,

Nick and I were together a
lot in Jamestown, New York,

where Nick was born.

Jane and Bob were having
issues at that time.

Um...

I'm not sure if it was financial
issues or marital issues.

All I know is that
it had to be dire

because Nick lived
with my family

for a couple of years.

That was before he
moved down to Florida.

Nick wrote
in his book about

the difficult times
that he had growing up.

His parents were
always drinking.

They were always on
the verge of divorce.

But he was an incredible singer.

So his mom is the one who gets
him into these singing groups.

It was an escape for him.

The Carters
had financial trouble.

And they had
financial motivations

to put their kids
in the business.

Nick made the rounds on kids
programming and talent competitions.

Well, the story is that

I was singing in the
backyard on a stump one day.

He was a
natural performer.

And it was just out
of the blue, uh,

that Nick had become
part of a group.

Lou Pearlman
launched a talent search

looking for five
all-American boys,

and that's how we put
together The Backstreet Boys.

Nick was a cute little blond kid

who, at 12 and 13 years old,
had a confidence about him.

I was the first writer/producer
for the Backstreet Boys.

We have five very
popular new guys here.

It's called the Backstreet
Boys, a brand new group.

We had them go on
this news program

performing the song I wrote
and produced for them.

Nick had that
pre-pubescent high voice.

I thought it was great to use
like a young Michael Jackson.

Lou Pearlman knew
exactly how to position these boys

to offer teenage girls
what they wanted,

which was a boy for every
season, a boy for every reason,

Nick Carter is the cute one.

In 1997, MTV was looking
for the next big thing

that like young viewers would
get, like real crazy about.

I remember hearing "Quit Playing
Games With My Heart" on the radio.

And I was like, "Oh,
it's a nice song."

And then I saw the video.

These five handsome
young boys are all wet,

and they're just like
tearing up their shirts.

And I thought, "I wonder
what's gonna happen here."

We love you,
Backstreet Boys!

Backstreet Boys made
a lot of appearances on MTV.

I was there on air for...
for a lot of those.

Usually something
of a scream fest

whenever the Backstreet
Boys drop by TRL.

When the Backstreet Boys
were in the MTV studios,

they would cause a scream
that haunts me to this day.

I lived, ate, sleep
Backstreet Boys 24/7.

Their music has been
with me through the happiest times,

the saddest times.

It's the most consistent
thing in my entire life.

I've been a devoted
fan for about 26 years.

Nick Carter was like my
first love of my life.

Nick was definitely the one that
the girls made the most noise for.

I would tell kids in school
that I was related to Nick Carter

from the Backstreet Boys, and none
of them believed me.

My impression
of Nick Carter was that

he was this superstar,
absolute superstar.

He walked on water,
but he was still a kid.

People your age are like
screaming your name with lust.

It has got to be a super
destabilizing way to grow up.

Nick, I love you!

When you're that young, it's an
entitlement that you think is normal.

There's such a dark side for
these young kids in the business.

They entertain us.

They smile for the camera.

But the music industry
has always been focused

on danger and sex
and going too far.

I was 16, and while
we were filming our music video,

Nick Carter contacted my team.

I had a boyfriend at the time,
but my label was very excited

at the idea that one of the
members of the Backstreet Boys

was interested in one of
their members of Dream.

And they were very adamant

that this is a call
that I should take.

So I agreed.

I don't really remember
a lot of specifics

about that phone call other
than, it was uncomfortable.

And it was short because I was
in love with somebody else.

I know that didn't
make my label happy.

The labels and the managers
told these kids what to do.

And you were expected to
do what you were told.

- Say hi to the camera.
- Hi.

The pressure was enormous.

The girl groups had a much
harder job than the boy bands did.

Because we look at, like,

sexually active young males

and we like, congratulate
them for that behavior,

and we shame young women for it.

It was a confusing
time for sure.

We were at the mercy of adults

who were sexualizing
me as a teen.

I think a lot of people could

look at some of the stuff that
I was wearing and be like.

"There's no way you
were a Christian.

There's no way you
were a virgin."

But we had no say in anything.

So I hung in there for
as long as I could,

and then it was
very, very difficult.

But I left the group.

I had done acting in the past,

so I thought I would
just go back to that

and start fresh in movies.

Love Don't Cost a Thing was my
big, first project breaking in,

and The Hollow
came about in 2003.

They offered me the role

and then I found out
Nick Carter was attached.

At this time, there was
sort of some tremors

happening in the
Backstreet Boys world.

The Backstreet Boys surprise
announcement on Monday

that they'll be postponing
their North American tour

due to AJ McLean's
immediate 30-day treatment

for depression
and alcohol abuse.

Nick decided to
go out solo for a while

to establish his own identity
outside the Backstreet Boys.

He put out a solo album,

and then he made this
movie appearance.

Oh, uh-uh.

I was 18
and I was single.

Nick was in his early 20s,

and he was very playful on set.

Nick had mentioned like, "Oh, what
are you doing on our off day?"

You should come over and
play video games with us.

And I was like, "Oh, that's...
that sounds like fun."

I think I had mentioned
at that point,

like, is it okay if I
bring a friend with me,

and he's like,
"Yeah, of course."

I knew that in the past,

that he had been
attracted to me,

but I didn't give
it much thought.

He seemed like a regular guy

and I was looking forward to
getting to know more about him.

It's been over two
decades since I was here.

And the things that I remember
are still crystal clear.

We are approaching the
end of Ocean Avenue,

approaching his
apartment complex.

But this is the building.

Uh, so, yeah, Ocean
Tower is right there.

And it was one of these
front facing apartments.

Yeah. I think I want to be able to show
and explain exactly what it was like.

Nick and his friend
Tony were in their SUV

and they told us
to hop into the SUV

and then they took
us down this way.

My friend Rachel was with us.

We didn't know
where we were going.

I vividly remember
going down this road.

This is the liquor store, he
parked right on this side.

Nick did not get out.

He was the bossing his friend
around, telling him what to do.

Like, "You go get the
liquor. I'm not getting out."

And then he took us
back to the apartment.

That night completely changed
the course of my life.

I remember as soon as
we walked into the apartment,

Nick started to make drinks.

And I remember Rachel being like, "Oh,
it's like a Cosmo. You'll like it."

And I was again, 18, naive.

I think Sex and the City was
like very popular at that point.

So it sounded fancy.

Nick looked at me and said, "Hey, you
want to listen to some of my new music?"

And I was like,
"Oh, yeah, sure."

I would love to hear
what you're working on.

And so when we
are in the office,

and he starts to play
his music, he goes,

"Sit on my lap."

And then I just remember

at some point, he then
pulls me into him.

And he's kissing me
and we're kissing

and I was surprised
and taken back.

The only other person I had ever
kissed was my high school boyfriend.

But at the same time, it was
like, "It's not a big deal.

It's just a kiss,

like, plenty of people kiss."

And then he just takes my hand

and he takes me into the adjacent
bathroom and shuts the door.

And he continues to kiss me.

And then he puts me up on the
counter, and then I can feel him,

you know, unbuttoning my
pants and I stop him and I go,

"I don't wanna
go any further."

But he did not listen to me,
despite the fact that I resisted.

And I told him no, he you
know, started to perform

oral sex on me,
which was horrific.

So I turned off the light,

so I didn't have to see
it, see him, see any of it.

And he kept turning it back on.

Him telling me he
wanted to look at me,

which was even more like just humiliating
and just gross and...

I don't even know how
long it went on for, I...

But eventually, someone
knocked on the door.

I was completely paralyzed.

I remember him like frantically,

like putting on my clothes,

and then he opened up the door.

And then he pulls me into
the adjacent bathroom

and he pulls off his pants.

And puts himself on the counter.

And says, "Now do
it, do it to me."

And I said, "No, I'm
not gonna do that."

Well, he started to
get very angry with me

and irritated with me
that I would tell him no.

And at that point,

he put my hand on him

and I opted to do...

the... the lesser worse thing.

I was scared that if I
hadn't done something,

he would have done
something really violent.

I was hoping that it all would end
in that bathroom, but it didn't.

Eventually, we ended
up in the bedroom.

Everything felt like it
was happening so fast

and it felt like
getting hit by waves,

where you come up for air and you
keep getting hit and you go back down.

And I remember as
he's kissing me,

I'm telling him I
don't want to have sex.

I'm saving myself for marriage.

"I don't wanna have sex.
I don't wanna have sex."

I told him so many times.

"I'm saving myself for my
husband, my future husband."

He's like, "I could
be your husband."

And it was just disgusting.

And that's when I felt him
put something inside of me.

And I didn't see it.

I didn't try to see it.

I asked him, "Nick,
what is that?"

And he said, "It's
all me, baby."

And I...

remember literally spinning.

It was this feeling
of this, like,

"This isn't real."

And then eventually he goes,

"You're not enjoying
this, are you?"

And I said, "No."

And that's when he got off me.

I just remember
how tired I felt.

And I remember thinking to
myself this was just a bad dream.

This is not real.

It was such a violation,
like...

There's no coming
back from this.

The next morning, I woke up and
I got the hell out of there.

My friend Rachel took
me to talk to her mom

because she saw that there
was something wrong with me

and I... I told
her what happened.

And she goes, "Honey,
you've been raped."

And I just remember...

hearing those words
for the first time,

and being like, "No."

No.

She told me to go to the police.

I needed to get a rape kit.

So I said no.

I can't do that. I'm
not ready for that.

No, I'm... no.

I was in such a place of denial.

And then I received a
text message from Nick

saying, "Why did you
make me do that?"

And that text message
freaked me out.

So I confided in my manager

about going to the police
and reporting the crime.

And he was just like, you know,

he's got the most powerful
litigator in the country.

We're trying to build your...
yourself a name right now,

and this will just
destroy all of it.

I was in such a vulnerable
position, leaving that group.

With no financial stability,

I was like, okay, this isn't
a viable option for me.

I remember her
coming up to me, saying,

"Dad, I've got to
tell you something."

And she pretty much
collapsed in my arms.

I had every bad
thought in my mind

in regards to what I would
like to do to this individual.

I don't think that any father out
there wouldn't think the same thing,

but I respected her decision

not to report it at the time.

I learned how to
really mask how I truly felt.

Because obviously I still
had to film with him on set

and he acted like
nothing happened.

After we were done filming,
I changed my number

and I remember thinking to
myself, "Okay, that's it."

I'll just avoid him for
the rest of my life.

And what's the
date today? It's April.

Like, oh, Nick, come on.

in his 20s,
Nick was growing up,

and he was steadily
becoming tabloid fodder.

The success
of the boy bands

was kind of a double-edged sword

because the fans loved it,

but everyone else criticized it.

And a lot of it was reserved for
the pretty young boy in the band.

And so when they grow up

and are in charge
of their own image,

it's got to be kind of
attractive to break out of that.

You having a good night?

And it seemed
like Nick was open

about having his love life
play out in the gossip blogs.

Nick was in a
relationship with Paris Hilton.

Around the same time
we were experiencing

the rise of the gossip blogs.

And they really covered every
single one of their moves.

Paris,
over your shoulder.

Straight back,
Paris. Straight back.

I
successfully evaded him

for about maybe a
year and a half.

And I started to do music again.

I was trying to move
on as a solo artist.

I signed with Kenneth
Crear's management company,

only to later find out that Kenneth,
um, was like family to Nick.

And so I remember, Kenneth goes,

"Nick recorded this
song, it's a duet.

And, you know, he and
I were discussing,

and we both agree that you
should sing this duet with him."

My first thought was do I
have to be alone with him?

And Kenneth goes, "Oh, no,
it's already prerecorded.

You only have to go
in and do your part."

I could feel Kenneth's eyes on
me like he was observing me.

And he goes,

"Nick is dating Paris Hilton."

Why would he feel
the need to say that?

What did Nick tell him?

And I also thought to myself,

"Well, he'll leave me alone."

She looked at this as,
you know, if I do this duet,

am I going to get a second
shot at my professional career?

I was
conflicted about it.

But I went in and
I sang the duet

and then the next thing that I
did was prepare for my showcase

for Sony Records in order to get
me the record deal that I needed.

I'm in rehearsals.

And Kenneth said, "You
know, I spoke to Nick

and he has agreed to
sing at your showcase."

She never, ever conceived
that she would have to be

on stage with this
guy ever again.

It was
incredibly overwhelming.

The very thing I had thought
that I was able to avoid,

but I felt that I needed to do
it for the business opportunity.

When the showcase happened,

I remember seeing
him and I froze.

Completely froze.

I was scared.

And I was very cold to him.

And we sang our duet.

I don't even think
I looked at him.

And eventually he goes "Well,
clearly, we don't like each other."

And those... that was the
last words he ever said to me.

After the showcase,
weeks went by,

and then finally, Kenneth said,

"The label feels that
you were vocally weak.

They don't want
anything to do with you.

They only want to
work with Nick.

And they're not interested."

I was 20 years old,

and I was like I knew in
that moment like, this is it.

I could hear it in his voice

that that was it.

I tried for a really long time,

but there was just
this part of me

that was left behind
a long time ago.

Music was always
so central to her core

that I hated to watch it
vanish from her being.

When I look
back on this song now,

it feels almost premeditated
where it was presented

as if it was going
to actually help me.

But in reality, it feels
more like an alibi for him.

It's not just about Nick,
as maybe the person who did it.

It's about the people who
surround someone like Nick Carter

and the industry

that makes it possible
for this to happen.

And the industry that supports
the silence around it.

Toward the end of Nick's
relationship with Paris Hilton,

there were a number of rumors
came out about them fighting.

This is a 2004
story about Paris Hilton

allegedly telling friends
that her ex-boyfriend,

Nick Carter, had hit her.

And there are photos of her

with a swollen lip and
bruises on her arms.

Nick Carter says
he didn't do it.

There's no real follow up.

And generally, the
stories kind of end with

like Nick's perspective
on it, right,

like this is an article
about when they were dating.

And he said, "Despite her
sultry public persona,

the notorious flirt was actually
so uncomfortable about sex

that she needed drugs
and alcohol to relax.

And was more often than not
too wasted to even perform.

She was a drunken prude

who, as far as I can see,
did not really like sex."

What a strange
article to publish.

And the way that this article
is framed is also so ghastly.

Paris!

Nobody really gave
a about her wellbeing.

You know, Nick didn't fully
become like the the bad celebrity.

That didn't really happen.

Nick's career has always
been pretty healthy.

And Backstreet Boys,

you know, they've had their
ups and downs as well,

but there's always been an
appetite for Backstreet Boys.

And when you look at
Instagram in recent years,

Nick has a beautiful family,
wife, kids and everything.

After I was
sexually assaulted,

I didn't even feel safe to really
date or get close to somebody.

It took a lot of therapy for me

before I started my
relationship with my husband.

And he has been my
rock and my foundation.

After we were married,
we got pregnant

and my son Elin was
born in July 2010,

and he's just like
the light of my life.

But at the same time I
was holding the secret,

which is like such a
heavy thing to hold.

The reality is, she had to hide
this horrific event for so long.

People
don't understand

and are like, "Well, you
followed him on Twitter.

You sent him condolences.

You liked a tweet."

I was truly trying my best
to find forgiveness for him

and move on with my life.

But once the Weinstein
allegations arose,

I started to see all these other
individuals that were speaking up.

Now on to the
latest on Harvey Weinstein,

The New York Times reporting
allegations by numerous women

who say the Hollywood mogul...

I can't explain it, but it
was like it really sunk in

that what I experienced
was not rare.

2017 was just a really
interesting time to be a woman

who had had enough.

You know, a lot of
male celebrity benefits

from the fact that
it's inordinately hard

to stand up and say,
"Hey, somebody abused me."

But at the peak of
the Me Too movement,

everybody is talking about
abuses of power from men.

One night, just out of nowhere,

I just decided to look up

"Nick Carter sexual assault."

And the RadarOnline
article came up.

And there was a police report.

The details in that report were
so similar to what he did to me.

I don't even know
the person's name.

But it opened up like
a Pandora's box for me.

I sat down one day
with my computer

and started writing about
the details of the assault.

I didn't publish it.

And then I sat on it.

I deleted it at one point.

And finally one night,
I was triggered.

And my husband looks at
me and he goes, "Melissa,

you cannot continue
to live this way."

I told him, I said, "I
can't, I can't publish it."

And he said, "Do
you need me to?"

And I said, "Yeah."

They hit
that published button

and I remember her
saying, "Dad, I did it.

I've let the world
know what happened.

I put out a blog post."

We went to bed
and then I woke up

a few hours later in a
complete and total panic.

Nothing could have prepared me,

my family or my husband
what was about to happen.

It's been hell on earth.