Nick Carter's sexual assault accuser challenged by new witnesses who worked with both on film production

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By ADAM S. LEVY, US SENIOR SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER

Published: 22:08 GMT, 28 October 2026 | Updated: 22:08 GMT, 28 October 2026

New deposition testimony has been given in the case in which singer and actress Melissa Schuman accused Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter of sexually abusing her in 2003 while they worked on a film called The Hollow.

A source close to Carter's legal team tells The Daily Mail that multiple people Schuman claimed to have told about the alleged assault have testified in depositions that she never reported the incident to them.

Schuman said in an April 2026 deposition reviewed by The Daily Mail that Carter had assaulted her in Santa Monica, California, during filming of the movie The Hollow in the spring of 2003, when she was 18 and he was 22.

Carter has denied all of her allegations and claims their relations had been consensual. 

Attorneys for Carter, 46, conducted a series of depositions in the Los Angeles–based case with people who worked with him and Schuman, 42, on The Hollow, which were included in a motion reviewed by The Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Schuman and Carter for further comment. 

New deposition testimony has been given in the case in which singer and actress Melissa Schuman accused Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter of sexually abusing her; Carter is pictured in 2022 in NYC 

Schuman said in an April 2026 deposition reviewed by The Daily Mail that Carter had assaulted her in Santa Monica, California, when she was 18 and he was 22. Pictured in 2016 

The Hollow producer Daniel Levin said in the deposition that he did not pick up on any indications of problems between Schuman and Carter when he saw them interacting on set, according to TMZ, which first reported on the depositions.

Levin said he 'did not observe any fear, distress, avoidance, or behavioral changes in Schuman that would have suggested she had been sexually assaulted by Carter,' according to the deposition.

Levin said in his deposition that the crew would have taken action had a sexual assault been reported. 

Nils Larsen, Schuman's one-time manager, denied claims made by Schuman that she had informed him about the alleged assault, and he told her not to report it to authorities, according to the deposition.

Larsen said in the deposition that Schuman had never made allegations about Carter's assault to him. Instead, he claimed she told him that she had a crush on Carter.

Larsen testified that the two appeared to get along while making the motion picture.

Schuman said in an April 2026 deposition in Los Angeles that was reviewed by The Daily Mail that she told actress Kaley Cuoco, who also appeared in The Hollow, about her allegations against Carter.

Schuman said she raised the issue with Cuoco in April 2003 on her last day of working on the film.

A source close to Carter's legal team tells The Daily Mail that multiple people Schuman claimed to have told about the alleged assault have testified in depositions that she never reported the incident to them; he's pictured in 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Schuman initially went public with her claims against Carter in a blog in 2017 and in 2018, reported her allegations to authorities, who did not pursue charges against Carter. Pictured in 2018 in LA 

On Saturday, a source close to Cuoco told TMZ that the actress had not been deposed to 'attest to the veracity' of Schuman's allegations.

In her April 2026 deposition, Schuman said that Carter had told her 'nothing had happened' between them after sending her a 'series of angry and harassing messages.'

Schuman said Carter had called her a 'manipulative b****,' leading her to eventually change her phone number.

Schuman went public with her claims against Carter in a 2017 blog, and in 2018 she reported her allegations to authorities, who did not pursue charges against Carter.

After Schuman filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against Carter in April 2023, the Backstreet Boys performer filed a $2.5 million countersuit against her in 2024. 

Carter alleged in a filing that Schuman filed her lawsuit based on false information with 'a specific intent to damage [his] reputation and interfere with his business opportunities, advantages and contracts.'