Beverley Hills, California - Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter is facing serious allegations that he raped an underage autistic girl with cerebral palsy in 2001, and perhaps others.

The alleged victim, Shannon "Shay" Ruth, is now 39 but was reportedly only 17 years old at the time of their encounter. She held a press conference on Facebook Live together with her attorney on Thursday announcing she has filed a lawsuit against the singer in the state of Nevada.

"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," Ruth said through 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."

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She claimed that the singer brought her onto the group's tour bus after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Washington, and that Carter gave her a red-colored drink of what he called "VIP juice" before sexually assaulting her.

"After he raped me, I remember him calling me a 'retarded b**ch' and grabbing me and leaving bruises on my arm," she said.

Her attorney noted there are three other women whose accusations are also included in the lawsuit against Carter. He was previously accused of rape in 2017 by Melissa Schuman, a member of the pop girl band Dream, but she did not pursue charges as the legal time limit had passed. She said she was 18 and a virgin at the time, while Carter has defended that their relations were consensual.

In the wake of the new claims, ABC will no longer air the boyband's planned upcoming Christmas special, A Very Backstreet Holiday, which was scheduled for December 14 and to later stream on Hulu and Disney+. It will be replaced by comedy repeats, according to Deadline.

Many fans have been left wondering: why is Ruth coming forward now, after more than 20 years? She has an answer to the question.

In the press conference, Ruth tearfully explained she was afraid to go to the police for years because Carter "scared her into silence" and she believed she would have to go to jail.

"He was nasty and threatening, saying I was going to jail if I told. He also said he’d turn people against me because he was Nick Carter and he had the power to wreck my life," she said.

After years of struggling with cutting and blaming herself, she now wants to "hold Nick Carter accountable" and stop him "from doing this to somebody else."

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"Carter took away my childhood and my innocence, but he cannot and will not take away my strength or my truth. I am a survivor and always will be."

Carter's attorney has now responded to Ruth in the wake of her claims.

Michael Holtz, an attorney for Carter, denied the allegations on Thursday in a statement shared with several news outlets.

"This claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue," Holtz said.

"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.

"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," he added.

Carter has been vaulted into the public eye even more recently due to the sudden death of his younger brother, fellow pop star Aaron Carter, last month.

It was "very emotional for me," the 42-year-old said of having to continue to perform with the Backstreet Boys on tour as he learned the news and mourned, saying his brother's death was due to "mental illness."

Yet, the brothers had a rocky relationship, and Aaron even alluded to and weaponized Nick's rape allegations in a past public fight.

At one time, he called Nick a "serial rapist" and compared him to Jeffrey Epstein in a string of tweets, according to reports.

Aaron later publically apologized to Nick in a podcast.

Ruth's newest allegations have certainly awakened the topic once again.