Nick Carter is the latest Hollywood figure to be accused of sexual harassment or misconduct.
And the allegations against the Backstreet Boys member are as serious as it gets.
In a lengthy post on her personal blog, Melissca Schuman – an artist who was part of the early 2000s all-girls group Dream – alleges that Carter raped her when she was 18 years old and he was 22.
Schuman’s message is emotional and, at times, graphic.
In it, Schuman claims she was received an invitation to Carter’s home during a day off from the film in which they were both starring.
After arriving at his apartment with a friend, she explains how the pair listened to the singer’s new album before he supposedly brought her into the bathroom.
This is when she claims they started kissing.
Schuman writes that she virgin at the time of this incident.
She claims Carter started unbuttoning her pants, ignoring her objections before allegedly performing oral sex on her.
Carter is accused of them demanding a blow job from the singer.
“My thought was the only way to get out was to get him to finish what he had started,” Schuman says.
Schuman writes that Carter then led her to the bedroom and raped her.
“I felt scared and trapped. He was visually and clearly growing very angry and impatient with me. I couldn’t leave,” she writes, adding in painful detail:
“It was evident to me, that i couldn’t leave. He was stronger and much bigger than me, and there was no way I would be able to open that door or have anyone help me.
“My friend couldn’t help me, I didn’t even know where she was. So when he placed my hand on his penis my thought was the only way to get out was to get him to finish what he had started.
“That’s where I saw myself, my reflection, watching myself do something that I was sicken by.
“Watching myself be assaulted, forced to engage in an act against my will.”
She continues of Carter:
“He was relentless, refusing to take my no’s for an answer. He was heavy, too heavy to get out from under him. Then I felt it, he put something inside of me.
“I asked him what it was and he whispered in my ear once more:
It’s all me baby.
How disgusting.
Schuman didn’t tell anyone about this encounter for years.
She even sang a duet with Carter at one point, prior to losing interest in music as a career path.
Why did the former singer wait to long to come out?
She grew sick and tired of seeing all the victim-shaming across the Internet any time a woman accused a man, especially a famous man, of sexual assault.
“I feel I have an obligation now to come forward with the hope and intention to inspire and encourage other victims to tell their story,” she writes.
And she concludes:
“We are stronger in numbers. If you are reading this and you have been assaulted, know you don’t have to be silent and you are not alone. I know it’s scary. I’m scared.
“I believe you. I stand with you and together I hope we can bring light to things that have been lost in the darkness for so long.”
Schuman ends her post with the hashtag “#metoo.”
Carter is yet to address this allegation.
But Schuman has taken to Twitter in order to thank fans for their support, writing:
“I just want to thank everyone for the outpouring of love and support. Thank you for bearing witness to my story. Thank you for providing me a safe place to be open and vulnerable. I love you all.
“Thank you for aiding me in the healing that I so desperately needed. I am free now.”