Melissa Schuman Reveals Why She Recorded a Duet with Nick Carter Months After Alleged Rape: ‘Like an Alibi for Him’

Melissa Schuman and Nick Carter recorded a duet together in the early 2000s, about a year and a half after she claims he raped her
Schuman opens up about why she recorded the duet in the new ID docuseries Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter
Nick Carter has maintained their encounter was consensual, and both a lawsuit and a 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 the new Investigation Discovery docuseries Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter, in which she talks extensively 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 docuseries, Schuman reveals that she did not want to record the duet “There for Me” with the Backstreet Boys star after the alleged incident, but felt stuck, as she was trying to launch a solo career and needed support from her management. She says manager Kenneth Crear, who also worked with Carter, presented the song to her.

“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,” she says. “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.”

In a declaration filed in court in April 2023 and obtained by PEOPLE, Crear says he does not recall signing Schuman to his management company, but says he offered to help “get her a break in the industry” after she approached him.

Crear says he recalls Schuman “being excited at the opportunity of 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 place of “denial,” and though she thought about filing a police report, she didn’t for fear of disrupting her career. Instead, she told herself she’d avoid Carter for the rest of her life.

About a year and a half later, she decided to restart her music career after leaving Dream, and says she signed with Kenneth Crear’s management company to launch a solo career.

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

“My first thought was, ‘Do I have to be alone with him?’ And Kenneth goes, ‘Oh, no, it’s already pre-recorded. You only have to go in and do your part,’” she recalls in the docuseries. “I could feel Kenneth’s eyes on me, like he was observing me. And he goes, ‘Nick is dating Paris Hilton.’”

Schuman says she hoped Carter would leave her alone, and though she was “conflicted about it,” she decided to move forward with the duet. Later, Schuman says a showcase was arranged for Sony Records in order to help her secure a record deal — and she was shocked when Crear said Carter would be joining her to sing the duet. Schuman says she was overwhelmed, but went along with it for business reasons.

“When the showcase happened, I remember seeing him and I froze. Completely froze. I was scared,” she says. “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 were the last words he ever said to me.”

In his declaration, Crear says the showcase was for multiple artists, not just Schuman, and that she “knew well in advance of the showcase that she would be performing the duet with Mr. Carter.”

“Mr. Carter already had a record deal and did not need the Showcase. Because of our professional history, he agreed to sing the duet with Ms. Schuman as a favor to me to assist in launching Ms. Schuman’s potential solo career,” Crear says in the declaration, adding that Schuman and Carter “hung out and socialized” after the performance.

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

Crear did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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

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