Nick Carter asked a judge for permission to add the mother of his sexual assault accuser Melissa Schuman as a defendant to his lawsuit alleging an attempted shakedown against him, Us Weekly can exclusively report.

On Thursday, November 13, Carter’s legal team revealed the plan to add Schuman’s mom, Leisha Stinson, to the suit seeking damages for defamation and extortion.

The pop star’s team recently deposed Schuman’s dad, Jerome Schuman, who is already a defendant in the suit. During his deposition, Jerome testified that Stinson, his ex-wife and Melissa’s mom, ran an anonymous Twitter account that Carter believes was used as part of the extortion plot.

The Backstreet Boys star said the Twitter account was used to disseminate “false, fabricated, defamatory and menacing statements” about

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