Nick Carter flashed a big smile in his first public sighting since he was sued for raping an autistic fan when she was underage in 2001.
The Backstreet Boys member, 42, was photographed on Thursday — just hours after his alleged victim held a press conference detailing her claims — happily waving at people outside of the Empire State Building in New York City.
Carter has vehemently denied the allegations made against him.
“This claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue,” the “I Want It That Way” singer’s lawyer Michael Holtz told Page Six on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, for several years now, Ms. Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick – and those allegations have changed repeatedly and materially over time,” the attorney added.
“No one should be fooled by a press stunt orchestrated by an opportunistic lawyer – there is nothing to this claim whatsoever, which we have no doubt the courts will quickly realize.”
Earlier in the day, Shannon “Shay” Ruth spoke tearfully about Carter’s alleged sexual assault of her in his tour bus following a concert in Tacoma, Wash., two decades ago.
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“The last 21 years have been filled with pain, confusion, frustration, shame and self-harm that are a direct result of Nick Carter raping me,” the now-39-year-old claimed amid tears.
“Even though I’m autistic and live with cerebral palsy, I believe that nothing has affected me more or had a more lasting impact on my life than what Nick Carter did and said to me.”
Ruth also filed a lawsuit alongside three other woman identified only as Jane Does, and is seeking monetary damages.
Meanwhile, Carter was in the Big Apple on Thursday with the rest of his boy bandmates, Kevin Richardson, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough, seemingly to promote their upcoming Christmas special, “A Very Backstreet Holiday,” on ABC.
However, the network — whose parent organization is the Walt Disney Company — pulled the plug on the program late Thursday evening.
The special was set to air on Dec. 14 and also feature stars like Seth Rogen, Meghan Trainor, Rob Riggle, Nikki Glaser, Ron Funches and Atsuko Okatsuka.
