Original subtitles

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.