In contrast to his brother Nick, Aaron Carter defended Lou Pearlman to the top.
“Lou gave us all the power to have lives at present,” Aaron mentioned in The Boy Band Con, a 2019 documentary in regards to the allegations of abuse and fraud by the boy band Svengali. “Who is aware of the place I might’ve ended up, man. … In jail?” However whereas responding to the allegations that Pearlman had sexually abused a few of the expertise signed, he turned noticeably agitated. “Shut up about that,” he mentioned, trying immediately on the digicam.
There have been long-standing allegations in opposition to Pearlman whereas he was alive, particularly that he stole earnings from his expertise, however worse, that he abused them. Nick, who turned The Cute One ™ within the Backstreet Boys by the point he was 12, needed to sue his approach out of a contract with Pearlman, saying he had withheld tens of millions from the band. The identical was true for loads of the younger boys and males scooped up by Pearlman and positioned in bands like NSYNC, LFO, or O-City. Some lesser-known pop stars additionally alleged sexual assault. (Earlier than he died, Pearlman denied the allegations.)
Aaron was the youngest of Pearlman’s pop creations by far, and at 14 he ended up suing Pearlman in 2002 for stealing his cash. All through the remainder of his life, he nonetheless appeared to have a lot reverence for his former supervisor. Pearlman did certainly create the Aaron Carter we knew, a Frankenstein forming his creation right into a worthwhile, approachable, charming, charismatic determine for a youthful set of ladies to adore.
However Pearlman, in so some ways, additionally looks like the originator of Aaron’s strife — he introduced him cash and fame, which lifted Aaron’s household out of poverty too, however he was a manipulative supervisor who stole from his purchasers and died in jail. However Aaron nonetheless believed Pearlman provided him a greater life, even with the unimaginable prices he’d face afterward.
