“Like an alibi for him”

Melissa Schuman is one of three women accusing Nick Carter of sexual assault to tell her story on “Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter.”

• Melissa Schuman and Nick Carter recorded a duet together in the early 2000s, about a year and a half after she claimed he raped her.

• Schuman explains why she recorded the duet in new docuseries ID Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter

• Nick Carter has maintained that their encounter was consensual and that a lawsuit and countersuit are pending.

Melissa Schuman is opening up about why she recorded a duet with Nick Carter months after he allegedly raped her.

The former Dream singer, 39, is featured in new documentary series Investigation Discovery Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carterin which she speaks at length about her claims that Carter, 44, raped her in his Santa Monica apartment in 2003, when she was an 18-year-old virgin.

In the documentary series, Schuman reveals she didn't want to record the duet “There for Me” with the Backstreet Boys star after the alleged incident, but felt stuck as she tried to launch a solo career and needed support from management. She says manager Kenneth Crear, who also worked with Carter, introduced her to the song.

“When I look back on that song now, I feel like it was almost premeditated, where it was presented as if it was actually going to help me, but in reality it seemed more like an alibi for him,” she says. understand and say, “Well, you followed him on Twitter, you sent him your condolences. You liked a tweet. » I really did my best to find forgiveness from him and move on with my life.

In a statement filed in court in April 2023 and obtained by PEOPLE, Crear says he doesn't remember signing Schuman to his management company, but says he offered to help “get him to do a break from the industry” after she approached him.

Crear says he remembers Schuman “being excited about working with” Carter, and that she showed “no hesitation, stress or anxiety in her reaction.”

Schuman says that after her alleged assault, she was in a state of “denial” and although she had considered filing a police report, she did not do so for fear of disrupting her career. Instead, she told herself she would avoid Carter for the rest of her life.

About a year and a half later, she decided to relaunch her music career after leaving Dream and claims to have signed with Kenneth Crear's management company to launch a solo career.

Schuman said she later learned that Crear was “like family” to Carter. She says Crear came to her with a song Carter had recorded, and they both wanted her to sing on the duet track.

“My first thought was, 'Should I be alone with him?' And Kenneth goes, “Oh, no, it’s already pre-recorded.” You just have to go in and do your part,'” she recalled in the docuseries. “I could feel Kenneth's eyes on me, like he was watching me. And he said, 'Nick come out with Paris Hilton.

Related: Nick Carter's Ex Kaya Jones Thinks 'Something Horrible' Happened to Her Rape Accuser Melissa Schuman (Exclusive)

Schuman says she hoped Carter would leave her alone, and although she was “conflicted about it,” she decided to move forward with the duo. Later, Schuman said a showcase was set up for Sony Records to help her secure a recording deal – and she was shocked when Crear announced that Carter would be joining her to sing the duet. Schuman says she was overwhelmed, but agreed for professional reasons.

“When the show came on, I remember seeing it and I froze. Completely frozen. I was scared,” she said. “And I was very cold to him and we sang our duet. I don't even think I looked at him and finally he said, 'Well, clearly we don't we don't love.” And those were the last words he said to me.

In her statement, Crear said the showcase was for several artists, not just Schuman, and that she “knew well before the showcase that she would perform the duet with Mr. Carter.”

“Mr. Carter already had a recording contract and had no need for Showcase. Because of our professional history, he agreed to sing the duet with Ms. Schuman as a favor to help launch the solo career potential of Ms. Schuman,” Crear said. said in the statement, adding that Schuman and Carter were “hanging out and socializing” after the performance.

Schuman says that a few weeks after the showcase, Crear told her that the label found her “vocally weak” and would not sign her, effectively ending her music career.

Crear did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Schuman, who is now married and has a 13-year-old son, first outlined her allegations against Carter in a 2017 blog post on her website. He denied the allegations at the time, saying that although they had sex, it was consensual.

In February 2023, Schuman was named in a countersuit filed by Carter against Shannon Ruth, who had sued him two months earlier for alleged sexual assault. In his countersuit, the singer accused the women of taking advantage of the #MeToo movement and using it to launch a plot to “defame and slander” him for attention and money .

Related: Nick Carter Rape Accuser Melissa Schuman Sues Backstreet Boys Singer for Sexual Assault and Battery

Schuman sued Carter in April 2023 for sexual assault and battery stemming from the alleged 2003 incident. His lawyer said at the time that Schuman's allegations were “false” and a “PR stunt.” Both trials are ongoing.

“These are the exact same outrageous claims that led us to prosecute this gang of conspirators,” Carter’s attorney said in a statement shared with PEOPLE. decisions and overwhelming evidence, we are confident that we will prevail and hold them accountable for spreading these lies.

Fallen idols is a four-part documentary series that follows the lives of Carter and his late brother Aaron, from their rise to pop stardom in the late 1990s through their tragic struggles and family conflicts, including Aaron's death in 2022.

Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter premieres over two nights on Monday, May 27 and Tuesday, May 28 from 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM ET/PT on ID and streaming on Max.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit rainn.org.

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