The 7 biggest revelations from the Nick and Aaron Carter documentary.

This article deals with accounts of rape and sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers.

The rocky relationship between pop star brothers Nick and Aaron Carter is being reexamined in a new documentary, which features several disturbing claims about the Backstreet Boys member. 

Nick rose to prominence as the token 'cute one' in the '90s boy band, who became a worldwide phenomenon off the back of global hits including 'Everybody', 'I Want It That Way' and 'Larger Than Life'. Introduced as Nick's loveable and cheeky younger brother, Aaron, too, released a handful of hit songs and had high-profile relationships with Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff.

Nick dated Paris Hilton in the early '00s but these days, he's married to Lauren Kitt Carter and they share three kids. Nick still tours with the Backstreet Boys, as the iconic group continues to play stadiums around the world.

Aaron, however had a troubled few years after finding fame — and on November 5, 2022 was found dead in his Californian home, with the autopsy revealing he died from drowning after ingesting the benzodiazapine alprazolam and inhaling difluoroethane.

In the years leading up to Aaron's death, the teen heartthrob had been involved in a series of public disputes with his brother Nick, which are discussed in new four-part docuseries titled Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter — along with claims from women who allege Nick raped and sexually assaulted them throughout the early 2000s.

The docuseries first aired in the US, but premiered in Australia on Binge on June 8.

It's an intense series to watch — with a lot of information and allegations to take in about members of the Carter family — so we've rounded up some of the biggest revelations made in Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter.

Image: Binge. 

1. Shannon Ruth's sexual assault claims. 

In the docuseries, four women spoke about their experiences with the boy band member throughout the early 2000s. Shannon Ruth spoke about an encounter when Nick invited her on his tour bus after a show in 2001 when she was just 17.

"I remember feeling dizzy and sick so we had me go in the bathroom. Nick always had it so that he was behind me blocking the door and he asked me to get on my knees and he put on his pants and he pulled out his penis and he told me to put it in my mouth. I was crying and he was screaming at me, 'Stop crying,'" she recalled.

"It was so mentally overwhelming and confusing for me. He had me go to the bed and pulled down my pants [and went down on me]."

Ruth recalled feeling overwhelmed and confused.

"I remember saying no and every time I would say no, he would get more aggressive. I was trapped and there was no way I was gonna get out of there unless I did what [he] wanted me to do," she continued. "I remember afterwards I had told him that I was gonna tell people everything he did and he grabbed my arm. I honestly felt like my arm was gonna break in half with the force."

Ruth filed a civil sexual battery lawsuit, but during her deposition, she could not recall all the information she had initially detailed. Ruth is on the autism spectrum and has cerebral palsy. 

Nick said that Ruth claims were a "factual impossibility".

2. An ex-girl group member's disturbing allegations.

An ex-member of 2000s girl group Dream, Melissa Schuman, alleged that she was raped by Nick a few years after her record label had tried to coordinate a faux relationship between the two pop stars. 

After quitting Dream, Schuman was cast alongside Nick in the movie The Hollow and he asked her to hang out with him after work with a friend. Nick invited Schuman to listen to his new music and they started kissing, but then, she says, Nick took her into his bathroom.

"He continues to kiss me and then he puts me up on the counter. I can feel him unbuttoning my pants and I stop him and tell him, 'I don’t want to go any further,'" Schuman claimed. "But he didn’t listen to me despite the fact that I resisted and told him no. He started to perform oral sex on me, which was horrific."

Schuman then said she was moved into his bedroom.

"As he is kissing me, I am telling him I don't want to have sex. I am saving myself for marriage. I told him so many times I am saving myself for my future husband. He said, 'I could be your husband,'" she recalled.

"It was just disgusting and that is when I felt him put something inside of me. I didn't see it. I didn't try to see it. I asked him, 'Nick, what is that?' He said, 'It is all me, baby,'" she told the cameras. "Eventually he goes, 'You are not enjoying this, are you?' I said, 'No.' And that is when he got off me."

Nick maintained that his sexual encounter with Schuman was "consensual" and his friend supported his account.

Melissa Schuman in the early 2000s. Image: Getty. 

3. A family friend's claim Nick had sex with her when she was 15.

Ashley Repp was a former friend of Nick's sister Angel Carter when she was invited to stay at the Carter family compound in Florida with Nick and Aaron. At the time, Repp was 15 years old and Nick was 23 when they had sex for the first time.

"Angel had planned to have a party on Nick's boat. After we got out into the open water, everyone was jumping off the side of the boat. Nick had jumped immediately after me and pulled me to the back of the boat and started kissing me and touching me," she recalled, adding they ended up having sex. 

Then it happened again on the same trip. 

"He poured us a drink then he asked me to perform oral sex on him, which I declined multiple times. He kept at me. I eventually gave in, and we proceeded to have sex again. He never used protection, and it was very abrupt."

On another trip, Repp said she felt pressured to have sex with Nick again — this time with Nick's friends allegedly watching on. 

"Nick just picked me up and threw me in the boat cabin and shut the door. I was so drunk that I had no control over my body and he didn’t seem to care. We ended up having sex. I was adamantly vocally against [it]. I remember laying on the floor of the boat cabin and I was kind of starting to feel sick," she said. 

"Shortly after, I saw people snickering and I found out at that moment that the skylight hatch that was above the boat cabin was open and that he allowed [his friends] to watch as he assaulted me."

Repp initially filed a police report, but Nick wasn't prosecuted. In the series, the police reported that Repp told Nick she was 18 and never said "no" when they had intercourse.

Nick’s lawyer denied the allegations.

4. Kaya Jones' support for the women coming forward.

Finally, Nick's ex-girlfriend and founding Pussycat Dolls member, Kaya Jones, also shared some negative experiences from her short-lived relationship, along with showing solidarity for the other women who came forward.

"He knows what I know. He knows why I left him. So do I believe that something horrific happened to that girl? Yes, yes I do," she said. "Nick was very good at messing with your head. He liked to control everything. So if anyone called my phone, he got really jealous. He broke my phone once like a temper tantrum like a child." 

Jones made it clear that Nick was "never physically violent" with her during their relationship.

But after a disturbing experience where she felt pressured by Nick to perform an act from a pornography film, Jones said he crossed "the line too far for me" and they broke up.

"Just like anyone in any relationship, there are things you know about your partner that could burn their house down."

Nick Carter's ex-girlfriend Kaya Jones. Image: Getty. 

5. Aaron Carter comforted Nick's alleged victim.

Angel's former friend Repp spoke about leaning on Aaron after her alleged encounters with Nick.

"Aaron and I were the same age. He knew about the incidents with Nick and he was always just really sweet," she said. "We did end up having a romantic relationship but ultimately we decided it was better if we were just good friends."

After one encounter with Nick, Repp sought comfort in Aaron.

"Aaron was very kind to me. He didn't have a great relationship with his brother at that time because what he said were other similar events with his brother and younger girls."

6. Nick's tumultuous relationship with Paris Hilton.

The 2004 relationship between Nick and Paris Hilton was reexamined under a contemporary lens in the docuseries. Journalist Scaachi Koul discussed the rumours at the time that Paris broke up with Nick after he became physically violent. 

"This is a 2004 story about Paris Hilton allegedly telling her friends that her ex-boyfriend Nick had hit her. There are photos of her with a swollen lip and bruises on her arms," Koul said. 

"Nick Carter says he didn't do it. There's no real follow-up and generally, the stories end with Nick's perspective on it."

Nick denied the allegations, telling MTV News in 2004, "If they need the media attention, let them do their thing. My family, friends and fans know that this is not my character and I would never hurt someone that I cared for or do anything like the malicious things they are claiming."

Koul criticised the way Nick had described his relationship with Hilton at the time. In one interview Nick said Paris "was a drunken prude who, as far as I can see, did not really like sex."

Nick Carter and Paris Hilton. Image: Getty. 

7. Nick filed a restraining order against Aaron.

Aaron followed in his brother's famous footsteps, with breakout single 'Crush on You', a cover of The Jets song. Throughout the early 2000s, he had success with singles such as 'Oh, Aaron', 'Not Too Young, Not Too Old' and 'That's How I Beat Shaq.'

After taking a hiatus from releasing music, Aaron struggled with alcohol and drug addiction and his mental health. In 2018, he got sober when he started dating Lina Valentina, but he relapsed later that year.

"He relapsed. He bought, like, five rifles. It just got worse and worse," Valentina said in the docuseries. Aaron then started having 'visions' of killing Nick and his wife Lauren Kitt's unborn child. 

"Me and Angel went to the police. They said, if you file a restarting order, by law, they have to take the guns away," Valentina added.

In September 2019, Nick did just that.

"In light of Aaron’s increasingly alarming behavior and his recent confessions that he harbours thoughts and intentions of killing my pregnant wife and unborn child, we were left with no choice but to take every measure possible to protect ourselves and our family," Nick tweeted at the time. 

"We love our brother and truly hope he gets the proper treatment he needs before any harm comes to himself or anyone else."

After splitting from Valentina, Aaron got engaged to Melanie Martin and they welcomed their first child, a son named Prince, in November 2021. 

Before Aaron's death, Martin said his mental health took a hit over the online backlash he received for supporting Nick’s alleged victims.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

Feature image: Getty.