"The truth is an absolute defense" — Clark County Judge rules Nick Carter cannot countersue assault accuser for defamation

Nick Carter cannot countersue Ashley Repp, who accused him of r*ping her on a yacht in 2003 when she was 15. On August 13, Clark County Judge Joe Hardy Jr. ruled that Nick's defamation countersuit, filed in January, would not proceed.

In his countersuit, Nick admitted to having s*x with Repp but claimed she told him she was 18 and described the encounter as "consensual," stating they formed a "connection" after spending several days together.

However, Judge Hardy contradicted his claims since their s*xual interaction was considered statutory r*pe under Florida law.

"The truth is an absolute defense. Based on Carter's own judicial admissions, they did have s*x. They had s*xual relations, and she was a minor."

This isn't the first time Nick Carter has met with a s*xual assault lawsuit. In 2022 Shannon Ruth and in 2023 Melissa Schuman filed s*xual assault lawsuit against the Backstreet Boys singer. Schuman first went public with her accusations in a blog post in 2017, and filed a police report but no charges were filed against the singer.

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More about Ashley Repp's lawsuit against Nick Carter

Ashley Repp's lawsuit against Nick Carter allegedly accusing him of statutory rape was featured in a four-part documentary, Fallen Idols (2024), where three women who accused the Backstreet Boys singer were interviewed.

As per the documentary, Ashley Repp was friends with Nick Carter's sister Angel Carter. In the complaint filed in August 2023, Ashley Repp claimed she stayed with the Carter family in the summer of 2003 at their Florida Keys compound. She accused Nick of giving her alcohol, which had her intoxicated, and then allegedly performing s*xual acts on her with no consent.

Ashley also detailed another incident when they were on a boat, and alleged that Carter asked his three male friends to see him through a skylight as he engaged in s*xual intercourse with Ashley.

After Carter filed for a countersuit in January 2024, accusing Repp of defamation, Judge Hardy on August 13 said the singer's arguments which claimed Repp of being "deceitful" and allegedly lying about her age were "irrelevant." After her victory, Repp in a statement said,

"I'm so thankful that the voice of my 15-year old self is finally being hard and believed. All I ever wanted was to set myself free. I hope anyone else struggling can do the same."

On the same, day Judge Hardy also ruled out Carter's defense against s*xual battery lawsuit filed by Shannon Ruth where she accused the singer of assaulting her on a tour bus in February 2001 after a concert in Tacoma, Washington.