Summary

• Aaron Carter had a complicated but loyal relationship with Lou Pearlman, standing by him through lawsuits and defending his legacy.
• Despite being one of Lou Pearlman's closest artists, Aaron sued him for royalties and owned his first album master.
• Aaron Carter denied allegations of Lou's misconduct, portraying him as a savior who provided opportunities.

Aaron Carter's solo career began in 1997 at nine years old, when he started performing as the opening act for the Backstreet Boys and became the youngest of Lou Pearlman's "pop creations." As detailed in Netflix's Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam, Lou Pearlman famously managed and scammed several '90s boy bands, including Aaron's brother, Nick Carter, in the Backstreet Boys. And while it's no secret that Aaron and Nick had a complicated relationship, that involved Nick filing for a restraining order against Aaron in 2019, the nature of Aaron Carter's relationship with Lou Pearlman might come as a surprise.

Lou Pearlman passed away while in prison in August 2016. Before his death, he was remembered for being one of the biggest con artists in the entertainment industry and one of the greatest talent managers. After all, he did help launch two of the most popular boy bands ever, the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. However, by the time Lou started working with Aaron, the manager's reputation was already headed for the dumpster.

Why Aaron Carter 'Didn't Blame' Lou Pearlman For Conning The Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys became Lou Pearlman's first clients after being formed by Lou in 1993. They were also the first of Lou Pearlman's boy bands to sue the notorious pop mogul. While working with the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, Lou Pearlman infamously made himself the "6th member of the band," without them knowing, and pocketed much of the artists' earnings.

In 1998, the Backstreet Boys sued Lou claiming they had only earned $300,000 since 1993, despite their relentless touring and the fact that their self-titled album sold over 28 million copies worldwide, while Lou Pearlman pocketed $10 million.

In Netflix's Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam documentary, Backstreet Boy, AJ McLean expressed, "We were blindsided to Lou being the sixth member of the group... You know, you’re gonna make your management commission, but you’re also gonna make exactly how much the five of us make, and you’re not out there doing what we’re doing."

With both connections to the Backstreet Boys and Lou Pearlman, Aaron Carter was asked about Lou Pearlman's "6th member" scam. In an interview with VladTV on YouTube in 2020, Aaron Carter grew very serious and stated...

"Guess what, guess what... I don't blame him."

"Why not? He put all his money and time, invested everything into that group and gave them their careers that they still have today. I'm not gonna be the one that's gonna be like, 'Oh yeah, Lou Pearlman's...' No. I'm gonna tell you the complete. I... I like to pet sharks backwards."

Lou Pearlman's deception against the Backstreet Boys wholeheartedly affected each of the boys negatively. They looked up to Lou in their early years as a boy band and thought he had their best interest in heart. However, it was impossible to look past the fraud and trickery Lou played on them.

"There would be no 'NSYNC, there would be no Backstreet Boys without Lou, period," AJ says in Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam.

"But some of us still have wounds that have never healed and may never heal."

According to Lou Pearlman's memoir "Bands, Brands and Billions," the reason he launched *NSYNC while still working with the Backstreet Boys was to become his own competitor, rather than letting someone else come in and steal the profits. "If Backstreet ends up being a dominant brand like Coke, someone is going to come along and create a Pepsi," Lou wrote. "We might as well beat them to it."

Lou Pearlman And Aaron Carter's Relationship Lasted Longer Than Other Musical Acts

Aaron Carter was one of Lou Pearlman's only clients that stood by him and defended his name up until Lou's death. Aaron, himself, described Lou as a "Big Poppa," which many of Lou Pearlman's artists referred to him as, and that he was "like Santa Claus."

Aaron credits Lou for ultimately saving his life and pulling his family out of poverty. Up until Aaron's passing, he still believed Lou offered him a better life, despite the unimaginable costs he would face later on, including struggling with more than one addiction.

In 2019, Aaron was invited to join *NSYNC member, Lance Bass' YouTube documentary, The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story, in hopes that he would share some of the truth surrounding Lou Pearlman. But Lance was surprised when Aaron did the opposite and, instead, entered the documentary as an advocate for Lou.

"When he was going to do the interview, we had to fight for him to be in the film because he wasn't part of a boy band," Lance told SiriusXM in 2019. "But we knew he had great stories because if anyone, he was the closest to Lou at such a young age."

"We thought that him deciding to do this, he was going to really tell insane stories that we always heard rumours about, so we were trying to get some confirmation finally."

"But it didn't happen that way. He defended him with every breath."

"You could see the torment still in him, and you have to believe him. If they're sitting in this chair, and they're speaking their truth... You have to believe what he says, so if he says he didn't have anything happen with Lou, then I believe it."

In Lance's documentary, Aaron stated, "Lou gave us all the ability to have lives today. Who knows where I would’ve ended up, man. … In jail?"

How Aaron Carter Responded To Allegations Of Lou Pearlman's Abuse Of His Young Clients

Aaron Carter not only defended Lou Pearlman's work ethics, he also defended the talent manager against the allegations of improper conduct with several of his clients, including Aaron's own brother, Nick Carter.

Aaron and Nick's mom, Jane Carter, spoke to Vanity Fair in 2007 after allegations that Lou only formed the bands as "an excuse to hang around with five good-looking boys" started to spread. “Certain things happened,” she expressed to Vanity Fair writer, Bryan Burrough, “and it almost destroyed our family."

"I tried to warn everyone. I tried to warn all the mothers."

"I tried to expose him for what he was years ago.… I hope you expose him, because the financial [scandal] is the least of his injustices."

Jane didn't detail anything more for not wanting to jeopardize her relationship with Nick, but AJ McLean's mother shared, "For a while Nick loved going over to Lou’s house. All of a sudden, it appeared there was a flip at some point. Then we heard from the Carter camp that there was some kind of inappropriate behavior. It was just odd."

Despite his own family experiencing what Lou was allegedly capable of, Aaron denied Lou's involvement in anything inappropriate. When questioned about the allegations during The Boy Band Con, Aaron grew angry, looked into the camera and said, "Shut up." He insisted they were all lies.

During the VladTV interview regarding the allegations, Aaron stated, "How am I supposed to speak on that, man? Sometimes, I feel like people be making these crazy accusations just to get some sort of attention... Lou never did anything weird. I've known Lou since I was a little child, man. Nothing. He was a big Papa Bear, he's like a Santa Claus. Like, why weren't the guys saying something back then? Tell me. Riddle me that? Why you gonna wait till he's dead and then start talking about it?

All The Musical Acts Lou Pearlman Managed

• Backstreet Boys
• *NSYNC
• O-Town
• Innosense
• LFO
• US5
• Aaron Carter
• Jordan Knight
• Smilez & Southstar
• C-Note
• Take Five
• Natural
• Brooke Hogan
• B4-4

Aaron Carter Sued Lou Pearlman, Along With Lou Pearlman's Other Boy Bands

Aaron Carter continued to work with Lou Pearlman even after the Backstreet Boys sued him and stopped working with him. Aaron continued to have a good relationship with Lou for most of his life. But despite this good relationship, Aaron Carter sued Lou Pearlman, along with nearly every other client of the talent manager.

Under Lou's management, Aaron released his self-titled debut album under Trans Continental in 1997. Aaron's second album, Aaron's Party (Come Get It), went triple platinum in the US in 2000.

In 2002, Aaron Carter and his parents filed a lawsuit against Lou Pearlman, claiming the manager cheated Aaron out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in royalties.

"This isn't just an honest disagreement over the terms of a contract," said Tampa lawyer William Yanger, according to Tampa Bay Times. "This is something that has happened time and time again."

During the VladTV interview, Aaron was questioned about when he sued Lou Pearlman. "My mom sued him, and we sued him for the masters, and I own the masters now to my first album," Aaron stated, explaining that he won the lawsuit, even though Lou tried countersuing. But Aaron was underage when he signed the contract with Lou for that first album, making it null and void.

Aaron Carter worked with Lou Pearlman again when he was 17 years old, after his dad took him back to Lou after Aaron's parent's divorced and "signed a shady deal with him" right before Aaron turned 18. Aaron then released his song, "Saturday Night," and he claimed "about five months before he [Lou Pearlman] was incarcerated, right before I turn 18, I told everyone I quit."

Even so, Aaron never swayed from supporting Lou.

Lou Pearlman often claimed that he provided his talent with everything they needed and was the sole reason behind their success, and it appeared Aaron Carter always believed it.

US5 and Marshall Dyllon were the only of Lou Pearlman's musical acts that did not sue him in federal court for misrepresentation and fraud.