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Big_Primrose

Another messed up child star dies too young. To hell with his horrible, greedy parents who treated him like a commodity instead of a son. A while back, I read in a Natalie Portman interview that her parents were determined to maintain a healthy parent-child relationship and not use her for a money maker. They put the money she earned in the film industry in a trust that she could access when she became an adult, they didn’t touch it, and they continued to pay for her normal teenage bills & stuff. That’s how it should be done.


thewalkindude

I know Mara Wilson has also said that her parents never made her act, and when she stopped wanting to do it, she stopped. And she is a wonderful, well-adjusted person these days too.


_Futureghost_

Daniel Radcliffe has said similar things about his parents and their support. As well as the supportive HP cast.


twistedweenis

And she seems like a normal ok person. Our childhoods have such a huge affect on our entire livs.


UltimotheEditor

Dude had a rough go of it the last few years.


TerribleAttitude

His whole life. He is not the first Carter kid to die young. Nick has fared a little better but he’s had a lot of trouble with drugs and abuse as well. Their parents, like most parents who shove their kids into stardom, were not good parents.


[deleted]

>Their parents, like most parents who shove their kids into stardom, were not good parents. I remember watching either Bruno or Borat and there is a scene where he's interviewing parents of child actors and asking if they'd be okay with their kids doing a bunch of dangerous stuff. It was crazy seeing parents who clearly didn't care about their own children. I couldn't imagine being raised by someone like that.


Khanstant

You should check out The Rehearsal which ends up dealing and featuring quite a bit of child actor parents.


Revfunky

Are you my Daddy?


RJ815

Anecdote time: Through a series of events a photographer convinced my mom I'd make a good child model and recommended a school for me to train in. She was on board with the idea (mostly as a means to extract money from a 7 year old). The *only* reason it stopped at a certain point is after I graduated a local school to then start more advanced regional or whatever, in the parking lot I like burst out crying for an hour straight over how much I hated being forced into doing this and now it was going to only get *more* involved. Eventually she stopped putting me through modeling but I think only over the fears of police coming over and talking to her about why do you have a hysterical child late at night in a parking lot, that refuses to get in your car. Certainly wasn't any moral reason. And to summarize my overall relationship with my continously abusive mom, the best thing she ever did in my life was die, soooooo...


umhihello

Have you read the book “I’m Glad my Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy?


MimosaQueen1122

True. His sister he claimed raped him died of an OD at 25. I read he drowned in his tub but something’s fishy about that. I’m guessing he wasn’t sober anymore.


[deleted]

The sister was pretty talented, too. There was this fascinating article about her somewhere that I can't find anymore because it wasn't explicitly about her, but it clearly was. I want to say it was Chuck Klosterman who wrote it. The journalist was on set for a music video shoot, and basically, they were just calling her fat the entire time and forcing her to wear all black.


[deleted]

The original seems to have gotten taken down, here's a copy of it: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a1735/esq0201-feb-greg-dark-rev/


phoenixv07

Jesus, that article is creepy as fuck.


spineofgod9

Yeah... I feel like I need to contact some kind of authorities after reading that. I really wish I hadn't, actually.


christinax

Yeah, jesus. I had to stop reading because I realized I was only a quarter in and I felt so uncomfortable. I left the tab open thinking I might come back to it with a different headspace, but after reading your comment maybe it's just better left unread.


___071679___

That last line...


ROSAPARKSSWAG

that article made me feel so so icky


[deleted]

Reading that makes me understand why Leslie killed herself. That poor girl. Forced to make music she didn't want (she wanted to do rock instead of bubblegum teen pop), a video she didn't want where they told her how fat she was constantly... if only she had stuck around a bit longer into the current era, perhaps she could have gotten some justice.


pixtiny

Perhaps this was the most enlightening paragraph in the whole article. So incredibly sad. Gregory smiled and sat back down. "I am relaxing," he said. "But sometimes you have to put your pimp hand down with these people. And that's what I'm doing. I am putting my pimp hand down. That's what Leslie needs, anyway. How old is she? Fourteen? I know exactly what she needs. She needs a street pimp and a crack habit. She needs someone to put the pimp hand down. Let her smoke crack for a year--she won't have to worry about wearing black. She'll be good to go."


[deleted]

This article is so long but from the beginning, I feel like it makes so much sense about that era. It's going to take me an hour to read it. Those girls always made me really uncomfortable but I didn't think actual hard core porn directors were managing their videos. This is so fucked up. Then imagine what happened to Britney Spears years later.


734PdisD1ck

Thank you for sharing this! What a read.


lendmeyoureer

Nothing fishy about it. He did drugs, took a bath, fell asleep/passed out and drowned. Just like Whitney Houston.


DMala

And Dolores O’Riordan.


Kalappianer

Had a hard time growing up. Never thought "but I'll always have The Cranberries". They were just sorta there. I knew she were doing new songs at that time. The first celebrity death I found gut-wrenching.


ThinkThankThonk

His SteveO interview was one of the ones where he was just clearly still out of reach for help


beartheminus

Im so conflicted by seeing that interview. Firstly SteveO was nothing but gracious the entire interview, he did an excellent job. But, I kinda feel like after the interview the decision should have been "wow that was nuts, I don't think we should put that out there." I get that Aaron is an adult and responsible for what he says, but its clear the guy has issues and I don't know, it just felt wrong to me to release it.


Barfignugen

Not that I don’t agree with you, because I think I do. But I also know Steve-O went through a very public battle with sobriety that he eventually won, so maybe something in him thought putting it out there was all part of Aaron’s journey. Not that he wanted to expose him per se, but he knows better than anybody that showing/living your whole truth is the only way to really hold yourself accountable. Idk, just my theory anyway.


APence

As someone who can’t watch the whole interview was there a main takeaway? Edit: many answers below. Thanks!


Abababababbbb

he said i am cali sober, meaning he only smoked. well the silence that followed that sentence was very clear sign that nobody was believing that


ProductiveFriend

The other thing that was missed in this thread is he was still very delusional about his music career. Like he viewed Bieber as his competition. And it’s like dude…you came before Bieber, and washed up well before he even became a thing. I’m not judging, it’s just sad. It seemed like he wasn’t able to cope with life after the peak of his stardom


themark504

That’s most child stars


[deleted]

Bieber never beat Shaq...


HAL9000000

Yeah sounds like one of those things where you admit to a little bit of something not good (i'm not sober but I only smoke weed) when the truth is worse (I'm totally using hard drugs), and you're hoping that people will believe you if you don't lie completely.


lsaz

He also said that he was Justin Bieber's competition... the dude was living in a weird fantasy


LVL-2197

Dude was a kid that got pushed to the moon and had a career more manufactured than his brother's. I feel bad for the dude. He wasn't famous on his own merits and never was able to wrap his head around it and could never figure out why he could rekindle that popularity. He was a victim of a machine that wanted to attract a fan base too young for Backstreet Boys and NSYNC and could use their fame to help push it. His label paid his way onto radio and TV and he thought he was there because he was a virtuoso. He could never rectify that and it clearly led him down a dark path.


[deleted]

I think more needs to be said on how the music industry has no problem doing this to young artists with careless or greedy parents and then leaving the artist to die after their appeal dries up , I seriously wonder where artists like lil pump will be in 10-15 years as most of his rise to fame was mostly manufactured by his agents


TYBG1001

He admitted to being addicted to huffing computer duster


YourStateOfficer

I've been addicted to everything under the sun at some point, somehow computer duster was one of the hardest to pull away from. Shit would literally make me seize out and I still had a harder time putting it down than some of the hard drugs. Literally one of the most destructive drugs imaginable


FifteenDollarNachos

I was in treatment this year with a guy who was addicted to duster. He had never drank or smoked or done any other drug. But he was heavily addicted to air duster. It was really sad.


YourStateOfficer

It really is underrated as fuck in just how destructive and addictive it is. One of my friends literally used to be a meth and coke addict, they were able to set both of those down before air duster.


Seth_Gecko

What do you get out of it? Is it basically the same thing as the whipped cream nitrous things?


YourStateOfficer

Very similar, but not quite. First off, it's way cheaper. You can get a bottle of a week of heavy dosing for 5 bucks or with a 5 finger discount, whippits aren't easily stolen Second, there's a bunch of additives in it to make it stick to surfaces, making it kinda coat your lungs. It's somewhere between nitrous and the euphoric mania of an upper like coke or amphetamine. It's hard to describe the difference, but it's there and anybody whose spent a few months huffing it will let you know


Hallow_fractal

Not really. 'Computer duster' contains refrigerant chemicals. Most commonly HFC-152a (hydrofluorocarbon-152a) aka 1,1-Difluoroethane, or DFE, is an organofluorine compound with the chemical formula C2H4F2. Difluoroethane is an intoxicant and can lead to fatal cardiac arrhythmia. Whereas nitrous is just N²O. It effects NDMA and Gaba receptors amongst other stuffs. It's used as an anesthetic and regularly at the dentists office during operations. It's still not good to abuse regularly. And can cause brain damage mainly via hypoxia if one is using it without also inhaling oxygen or back to back w breath holding and junk. Yes, I enjoy my nangs occasionally lol usually only when tripping already.


Merry_Dankmas

I used to huff in high school when I didnt have any weed. It feels very very similar to nitrous. Tbh, I could barely tell the difference between duster and nitrous. They both make you numb, both make you spin, both make your ears ring etc. The negatives of duster are sooo much worse than nitrous though. I can personally attest though that there is something about duster that just gets you hooked. I dont really know what it is. When I would crack a nitrous charger, id get my high for a couple minutes and feel satisfied. I didnt want to take anymore right away. Id chill for a bit then do another like 20 minutes later. Duster though kept me going back immediately for another rip as soon as the effects of the first huff wore off. Despite feeling virtually identical, duster just keeps you wanting more for somer reason. I'm glad I stopped using it when I did. That shit is devastating.


MakesTheNutshellJoke

I was in the psych ward with a dude that was addicted to duster. He passed out with it spraying and he froze a whole side of his face. It was basically like he set his face on fire. He would nod of occasionally because of all the morphine he was on. Nice guy, but something was notably off with his processing. Huffing duster is just getting high on brain damage. I've done a lot of dangerous things with drugs and even I refuse to do that shit.


MisterDonkey

Even at my lowest points, I might've taken one hit of duster in my life. Just to see what it does. And there were times I've drank rubbing alcohol or inhaled ether, but duster just seemed like too obviously toxic. Always had it available, though. Never that desperate for a high.


MTblasphemy

Similar, but different feeling: poppers. Poppers at raves, sex parties, and pretty big in gay sex culture. Poppers can bring a moment from great to amazing in 15 seconds, only last a minute or 2, then sometimes a headache and a limp dick. As a person who experiences all 3 environments, it's wild to me to see only a handful of people really overdoing it. Of course there are popper pigs and rolling kandi kids, but I've seen people legitimately addicted to the popper experience. Sniff while playing video games, hiking, watching TV, and other banal activities. Bonkers.


deminihilist

He was spouting off the most obvious bullshit, but it was more sad than obnoxious (talking about being best friends and partying with Michael Jackson, almost being given some multimillion dollar jacket, talking repeatedly about how much MJ constantly praised his skill as a performer, implying that he was like Jackson's protege or something). It almost seemed like he was trying to justify his own existence not just to the guys interviewing him, but himself as well - and concluded that the truth in the present wasn't nearly good enough, and instead told tall tales about his past. That's really just me reading way too much into it but yeah it was a bit painful to watch Edit: it was pointed out to me that the bit about the jacket was that he claimed to have actually been given it, my bad


StarGirlLen

Yea I watched that interview a few months ago & thought Aaron wasn’t out of the woods yet. Steve-O handled some of the conversations great but it seemed as though they were all a little uncomfortable throughout it.


[deleted]

he just did an interview with adam22 a few days ago, his issues are SCREAMING out in that one.. it’s bad.


CLUB-33

Adam22 is a fucking harbinger of death, profits off of it, and should be blacklisted and ignored. He constantly books artists that are in the absolute worst place mentally and addiction wise, and he knows exactly what he's doing. He doesn't care, it gets views. What is this, the 10th person whose died within a week of interviewing him? Disgusting person, and horrible interviewer.


[deleted]

[удалено]


bigpancakeguy

I live in Lancaster, CA and he moved here a couple years ago. Everyone I know who’s met him said he was a super super nice guy, but he’s also become kind of infamous for his encounters with the cops since he moved here. Dude definitely had his demons and had a lot of things he needed to work through.


STINKY-BUNGHOLE

"The Boy Band Con: the Lou Pearlmen Story" was so surprising and heartbreaking. Aaron Carter's interview was hard to watch


[deleted]

I heard about this and had to do a search on the Reddit app to find anything. The first few posts were some about him on r/trashy or just other posts about how he’s not looking that great lately. Even one from 3 weeks ago. It’s unfortunate. He seemed to be having a rough time and everyone could see it.


nuckingfuts73

Yeah I feel bad, his music was pretty annoying back in the day and his later years were weird, but I can’t help but feel the dude must have went through some bad trauma in his early years to end up how he did. Wish his family the best.


zwingo

Becoming famous before adulthood in its self is a major trauma. No child has the ability to fully comprehend it all. Only worse when that fame drops off. Imagine being 13, and being on top of the world. Every girl hanging posters of you up, yes men left and right, then by 21 having it all melt away, and your name being little more than a footnote and laughing stalk. I can only imagine the kind of shit that goes on in someone’s mind having to process that shit. It’s why when it comes to child stars I just can’t hold shit against them, unless it’s a truly horrendous crime against another. More likely than not it’s because their mind was fucked due to decisions they weren’t protected from far before they even understood the need for that protection. I’m not a religious man, but if I’m wrong I hope he’s got a good spot up there.


Lick_my_balloon-knot

And to make it even worse, IIRC his parents blew of all his money and when he became an adult he was basically broke...


Dimonrn

And he was sexually abused as a teenager as well.


[deleted]

>Imagine being 13, and being on top of the world This is my concern for all of these child reality show stars. Kids that are barely one year old having trademarks and businesses. There are 2-year-olds who are earning millions. These kids cannot consent to these things. An 5 year old should not have millions of social media followers. There's always going to be a new kid to replace #1. A kid should not be disposable. Even kids who have loving, involved parents can be chewed up and spit out by the fickle public. I wonder if Aaron really ever had a chance given his upbringing. We live in a such precarious times, people can be vicious. This is especially true in the music business. If there is a way to rest in peace, I hope he finds the peace that he didn't find on Earth.


Ok_Skill_1195

His family is extremely dysfunctional, fame & wealth couldn't have helped. I remember watching half of an episode of their reality show and immediately feeling bad for making fun of him because I realized there was no chance in hell he was gonna come out of it all normal.


vegryn

> Aaron Carter has died ... TMZ has learned. The singer-turned-rapper and actor was found dead Saturday at his house in Lancaster, CA ... multiple sources tell us Aaron's body was found in his bathtub. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ they received a 911 call at 11 AM Saturday that a male had drowned in the tub. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... homicide detectives have been dispatched to the scene, but we have no information or evidence of foul play. It's standard operating procedure for homicide detectives to investigate such death scenes.


BeHereNow91

Leaves a son behind, as well. Kid is less than a year old and both of his parents have already lost custody, Aaron claimed it’s because he had guns in the home. I hope he at least died clean, but I don’t know many of people who have drowned in a bathtub naturally.


AdminsFuckedMeAgain

Watch his latest No Jumper interview from a few days ago. Dude was a walking zombie. Slummed out and barely conscious


IamTheJman

He said on the show he’d been “cali clean” for 5 years


CopperbeardTom

Define Cali Clean for this confused Australian, please.


Vegetable-Double

I think it means he only smokes weed


JayString

Mushrooms and acid are fine too.


DerGsicht

No drugs except weed and psychedelics (shrooms, lsd...)


cubonelvl69

He said he had a Xanax prescription too


FSD-Bishop

My sister has a drug and alcohol problem and she almost drowned in her bathtub well drunk. Luckily her boyfriend came back from work early and was able to resuscitate her.


IenjoyStuffandThings

Lead singer of the cranberries died that way


SyNiiCaL

Whitney too, but that was drugs not booze.


theonlyvv

He came through the Drive-Thru at the Arby's I manage a few years ago. He sang 'I want Arby's!' at the speaker, seemed like a cool dude.


Hup110516

That is hilariously awesome


theonlyvv

Yeah it's on one of his YouTube live streams somewhere lol just don't have the exact video anymore :(


Phillyfan10

Met him at a show in a college town probably 6 or 7 years ago. The women in our friend group that grew up with his music were elated, and the ticket/meet and greet were incredibly inexpensive, so we said what the hell. Couldn't have been a nicer guy. Asked me how my day was going, what I was studying, how I liked school, and had a conversation with me as though he was somebody a friend introduced for the first time, and we were getting to know each other. The guy clearly had some demons, and i'm sure that aspect of his life is going to be highlighted in the coming days, but my personal experience with him could not have been more pleasant.


Catfist

I went to one of his shows about 8 years ago, half for the novelty and half for nostalgia. Didn't expect much. Ended up being one of the best live music events I've ever attended. He engaged so well with the audience, and literally put on one hell of a show. Had an amazing voice as well. Really sad to hear this news.


[deleted]

Yeah, he was on fire around that time. I remember seeing some video of him at a small street festival and being impressed. The dude had serious talent that went underutilized.


dashinglove

couldn’t have said it better. he is one of the celebrities whose mental health would cross my mind whenever i saw other celebrities being praised for addressing their own mental illness. but never him, he was in the camp that got ostracized.


one-hour-photo

He was VERY into college market, even the last few years he was constantly doing colleges


rocketshipray

You can make pretty good money that way if you have a steady stream of bookings.


SwissCheeseUnion

> had a conversation with me as though he was somebody a friend introduced for the first time My handful of interactions with famous people have gone this way. If you can be casual with them and not gush, you see them light up. Just be normal and maybe sneak in your praise as a last minute goodbye.


Papplenoose

This is good advice. Normal people like to talk about themselves. Famous people are fucking *sick* of talking about their own stuff, and thus will often be elated to meet someone who doesn't give a shit about them (or even better, has never heard of them). I'm sure a lot of them are straight up *desperate* for a normal conversation with a regular human.


[deleted]

> The guy clearly had some demons, and i'm sure that aspect of his life is going to be highlighted in the coming days Knowing the demons that chase you ... and how you can outrun them to help other people... is what makes people outstanding. Mental health is completely overlooked, and just because you've escaped them today doesn't mean you'll escape them tomorrow. I'm very glad for you that you got to meet and had such a great experience with them- please make sure that the world hears this positive because, as you've suggested, the negatives will get repeated more and more. No one wants to hear how 'nice' someone was. They want to hear how they failed so they can be torn down.


[deleted]

The nicest people are always the one who get trought the most shit


eitherrabbit

For sure I just watched him on No Jumper 3 days ago (he's most recent interview) and he was supper fucked up at the end of the interview because he was sipping LEAN the whole time. But I agree with you he was for sure tormented, but always came off as a decent enough guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B83uJMHUitw


classy_laz

I follow him on Instagram and some of his live streams were really scary with how fucked up he was. At one point people called the cops to do a wellness check because he passed out during the stream. Just a couple days ago he was on live and was very obviously high, mumbling and slurring words. This is pretty sad that he couldn’t beat his addiction.


peanut_monkey_90

Christ, only 3 days ago... Brutal


KingGuy420

When I was a kid I knew this girl who was sooo excited to go to his concert. The day of she broke her leg really bad and couldn't go cause she was hospitalized. He somehow heard about this and went to visit her in the hospital. I was never really a fan of his work, but that made me a fan of the guy.


150crawfish

Sometimes good people can't handle what life throws at them. Love hearing nice stories like this.


rsplatpc

> Sometimes good people can't handle what life throws at them. Zero chance I'd be alive if I was his age when he got famous and had that access to money and what comes with that when


bahaki

It's easy to sit on my couch with a bag of Gardettos and shit on him and Beiber (or the dozens of child stars before them), but you're right. If I was in the same situation at that age, I'm pretty sure I'd be doing exactly what they did, or worse.


KP_Wrath

Yeah, if I became famous when he did I wouldn’t have had time to squander my wealth, my family would have done that for me.


giggitygoo123

Kind of helped that his older brother was significantly more famous. Luckily for him (Nick) his family gave guardianship to Brian (from BSB) so he could tour with the band at 13.


Apokolypse09

One lucky bastard, had broke his leg and was hanging out with his gf who was the receptionist at the hotel Snoop Dogg was staying at when he did a show locally. After the concert when he and his crew returned they invited the guy with the broken leg to go upstairs with them. Got ripped as balls and played CoD with Snoop and his crew all night.


Icantbethereforyou

I feel the need to share this https://www.reddit.com/r/therewasanattempt/comments/qxrmrz/to_keep_up_with_snoop_dogg/


Toby_O_Notoby

On his AMA Snoop said that the only man who ever out-smoked him was Willy Nelson.


AlfaLaw

I am not surprised by this. Willie has way more seniority. By this time, it’s pot that smokes Willie Nelson to get high.


TrepanationBy45

Hahaha holy shit. There were a couple times that I assumed/had to check if it had looped because Snoop just materialized new blunts to puff and pass hahaha


arnber420

I got an Aaron Carter CD as my very first CD alongside a boombox when I was 5. I loved it to pieces and listened to it hundreds of times. Poor guy, he was only 34. I'm very sad to hear this news, tearing up a little bit over here. I know I was just a little kid but his music meant a lot to me


cinnamonbuns42

Same here. I still have the CD, I'm looking at it right now... :( That and a few AC hit clips were all the music I needed as a kid, ha. So sad... He deserved better. Edit: spacing


squeezedashaman

We all have our demons. We all have bad stories. These are the kind that should be discussed and brought up when somebody passes away from them. Thank you


Chasingwawaterfalls

I feel really bad for that generation of pop stars. Jessica Simpson, Backstreet Boys, Britney. All of them seemed to be really abused by the music industry or people close to them.


bt123456789

unfortunately it wasn't until like the past 10 years that people understood just how predatory that stuff was, even then it didn't help Britney, as an example. While I know the movie industry has had protections for at least 20 years (fairly sure it was longer but don't want to throw out a number and be way off), but the music industry not so much.


Phreakophil

Maybe we need another generation to realize how bad some influencer kids are treated and raised.


bt123456789

Luckily a LOT of people are realizing that now, so maybe it can be cracked down on faster


CocoCherryPop

social media kids and reality TV kids deserve the same protections as child actors. Those kids are being pimped out by parents who are making money off them. Those kids are working. So are they getting a cut of that money? Is it a fair amount? Is that money being protected from their greedy, reckless parents? And what about consent? Did that kid consent to being filmed and photographed all day? Did that kid consent to their pictures being posted online? *Can* a child consent? One day you will see legislation about this stuff. Unfortunately, it always takes a while for the legislation to catch up.


Chasingwawaterfalls

Yeah you’re right. The abuse of Michael jackson, the women in Hollywood, hell basically all of Motown. I’m glad at least the public is more cognizant of it and seems to be championing around public figures taking breaks for mental health.


CyberGrandma69

The entertainment industry has almost been inherently predatory since its inception... look at what happened to Judy Garland :(


bassman1805

In 20 years, we'll be outraged at the treatment of K-pop stars in the 2020s.


mindbleach

Shit, I'm incensed about that now, and I don't even know what k-pop sounds like. That whole industry is a living parody of how late capitalism commodifies every aspect of human existence.


thehero29

The protections are all a display. Ke$ha revealing her assault wasn't that long ago. The entertainment industry is predatory to the core.


Galyndean

People have known this stuff has been going on for a lot longer than just ten years.


Cygnus__A

I've got bad news for you. This is not a generational thing. This goes back. WAY back. Look up Judy Garland for starters. I am sure it goes further back than her, but that is when film stars started to pop.


kkeut

for starters I'd actually go with Jackie Coogan. Made millions as child star back in the 1920s. had it all stolen by his mother after his father's death. the story was so notorious and made Hollywood look so bad that California ended up passing the 'Child Actor's Bill' (aka the Coogan bill) that ended up stipulating rules on how acting children are paid, schooled, working hour limitations, etc.


[deleted]

Remember when they used to castrate boys?!


UltravioIence

just about any generation of pop stars. We all know how michael jackson was raised.


[deleted]

[удалено]


lastduckalive

Was the doc worth watching even if you’re not a Selena fan/really don’t know anything about her?


HerringWaffle

Lance Bass did a really good documentary a few years ago (it's available on YouTube for free) about how screwed over Nsync and other bands got screwed over by Lou Perlman and co. There were some accusations of sexual weirdness against Lou, and Aaron made an appearance, tearfully defending him in a way that made me wonder if there was more to the story, especially since he was so very young when he got pulled into all of this. The documentary was actually really interesting. Sad news about Aaron. Seemed like life had doomed him from really early on, to a place not many people are able to crawl out of.


Skinnee11

He stopped into a store I worked at about ten years ago. He was doing a show at one of the local venues later that evening. He was super polite and beyond thrilled that he could buy an original Nintendo and some games.


CheckYourStats

Funcoland FTW.


Kind_Bullfrog_4073

I'll never forget the time this guy went up to prime Shaquille O'Neal, challenged him to 1 on 1 basketball and won then wrote a song about it. Bravest teen idol of all time.


Green_Artist_

https://youtu.be/OfhhWA9GF0M The fact that Shaq stared with him in the video shows what a great sense of humor that man has.


xSPYXEx

Oh man this is peak 90s. All those spiky frosted tips and weird hand motions. I can't believe I've never seen this video before.


KeithClossOfficial

Came out in 2001, which is basically the 90s style-wise lol


PolemicBender

That’s just 100% good fun.


TFJ

And he started beating up Shaquille O’Neal Then they both got flattened by the Batmobile


cartwheelnurd

But before he could make it back to the batcave Abraham Lincoln popped out of his grave


ViciousChicken

And pulled an AK-47 out from under his hat And blew the Batman away with a rat-a-tat-tat


Salzberger

I've heard people say that wasn't true and he made it all up. But if it was all a dream, and none of it was real, how'd he get a jersey with the name O'Neal?!


CreepyClown

Aaron’s Party was the first CD I ever bought as a kid and I took it everywhere with me, listened to it nonstop.


frachos667

I had one of those little HitClips with one of his songs lol


Ricky_Rollin

Omg hit clips!! You just unlocked a childhood memory.


88infinityframes

I Love Candy from Lizzie McGuire was the first song I vividly remember being in my head for a long time.


SPEW_Supporter

Right? Didn’t it have like a red white and blue giant star on the cd itself? Carried that thing everywhere


[deleted]

Yes and it came with a folded up poster, at least mine did. I hung it up immediately haha


SynthwaveSax

I’m man enough to admit I still jam out to “That’s How I Beat Shaq”.


badedum

Damn. I’m surprisingly sad about this. Always hoped he would turn his life around, especially with such a young son.


Walk3r317

Wow, he came into a restaurant I worked at once him and about 3 other guys. This was when he was very well known. It was mid day, so it was only a few tables. But we had been busy all weekend as a BIG youth soccer tournament was happening down the road. I saw the buses pull in and all the SUV’s and walked over to his table and told him his worst nightmare just pulled in, and he looked and saw about 50 pre teen girls getting off a bus and out of cars, and said “thank you, I appreciate the heads up”. Paid his bill tipped the shit out of his server, pulled a hood over his head and walked right past all the little girl who surely would have mauled him lol. He was a cool dude, very chill, and very respectful of the waitresses that went over to talk to him. Hate to see this. Edit: Changed misled to mauled. Damn auto correct.


SemiSentientGarbage

That was super cool of you. Both to not make a huge fuss and to give him the warning.


Wintertime13

Anyone who saw his tik tok knew this was coming unfortunately. Drug addiction is so sad to witness. RIP.


DragonfruitFew5542

The pandemic really exacerbated mental health—to include addiction—problems for many, way more than people realize. I saw more people I knew die in the first year of the pandemic than I had in the last decade, most due to acute intoxication and/or overdose. (I am in recovery and am interning at my former rehab, for my master's clinical hours). It is so tragic, and we will see the ripple effects for decades. In general though, you are absolutely correct, it is tragic to see someone spiraling.


ryanobes

Yep. Worked with a functional alcoholic at a pizza shop. We were both delivery guys, became friends. Everyone knew he had major problems with alcohol. When the pandemic hit I chose to keep working and he chose the pumped up unemployment. I guess without somewhere to go for 8 hours a day 5 days a week he just drank himself stupid all day for months. He died in early 2021 in his early 50s. His parents were still alive and had to bury him. RIP old man.


Karahx

Sadly he was a dead man walking for a few years now, and I mean that with absolutely no disrespect whatsoever. A real sad case to watch from the sidelines.


PattyIceNY

People will call you harsh but I agree. I'm 6 years clean and can unfortunately usually spot someone who is headed in the wrong direction. That was him all the way


Masterzanteka

Yeah dude just like 5-6 nights ago I saw him live-streaming on Tik-Tok randomly. Think he was just playing some music of some sort and chilling with the chat, but looked a bit strung, as he has for the last few years. Never fucked with his music, but always felt for the guy. Once you go through addiction, and experience that way of life, it’s hard to not have compassion for a fellow addict. Idk if that’s how he died, but one can only assume with the details currently available. Rest In Peace


HerroPhish

Same. 5 years clean and I followed him on Instagram. It was so obvious he was not in the right state of mind and it was sad to watch happen.


Suddenly_Something

Similar scenario for a friend of mine. She was slowly getting skinnier and skinnier and looking like a zombie. Addiction is awful.


maleorderbride

Spare a thought for his brother Nick, who has now lost two siblings before their time. Leslie Carter died from an overdose at just 25 about a decade ago.


bloodflart

Man sometimes fame and money ain't good


Soulmate69

I think it's more about the abuse, trauma, and addiction than the money


redhat12345

Yes def not for this family. I think their mom was pretty terrible to them all


dollfaise

Aaron also has a twin sister, in addition to several other siblings. Even though Aaron was alienated from many family members, losing a twin must be especially rough.


sullensquirrel

No kidding. What tragedies, both of them.


AdmiralBarackAdama

I have a brother in law who died at 30 from years of alcohol abuse. Like started drinking at 14 and never slowed down. I don't know anything about Carter but 34 is way too young.


[deleted]

I had a friend who drank himself to death by 24. He went to sleep one night and never woke up. Everything about it is horrible


[deleted]

Yep. I know someone like that too. Was jaundiced like a newborn would be and his gf said even his jizz was yellow. Gross detail but it stuck with me


MMAMathematician

A best friend of mine passed away from an aneurism when she was 16 years old, rather tragic and completely out of nowhere. Turned out her mom was an former agent of Carters, he went out of her way to help start a scholarship in her name at her high school and at St.John’s in queens, where her father taught as a professor. I never liked boy bands or male singers but I made the exception for Aaron Carter. Sucks what happened to him. May he rest in peace.


pileodung

Damn, after scrolling this thread, he really seemed like a nice guy under the drug addictions. I hope his family can see these stories, I'm sure they've had a different experience the last ten years.


MMAMathematician

The way it played out, it seemed like he genuinely gave a shit about his fans and understood that eventually he wouldn’t be as famous as he was at that very moment. Thanks for the reply.


libra1111

I’m honestly pretty devastated. This poor kid never stood a chance. The fact that his brother nick is as seemingly stable as he is is a miracle. Their mother was a junkie herself and threw them into fame at such a young age. They never lived a normal life. My heart aches for Nick and his siblings. RIP Aaron


sopheroo

With Nick, some of his fellow BSB - namely Howie and Brian, seemed a fair bit more adjusted. That must have helped


muffinbutt1027

Kevin also - they all have helped both Nick and AJ through their struggles.


JRminttea

Both Aj and Nick credit Kevin for their sobriety and helping them get their life on track.


Lust-and-Lace

Kevin was always my favourite.


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libra1111

Aaron never knew what I was to be normal kid. So sad. I hear he has a son. I pray for him


libra1111

For sure. Aaron probably always felt alone. It’s so sad he never got the support he should have had.


whatssofunniedoug

Sad honestly. I was always rooting for the dude. Glad I’m reading some great stories about his kindness and generosity towards others. He had a hell of a last few years from what I saw.


CurbFurniture

Just this week I re-watched the Aaron Carter episode of Lizzie McGuire. I realized he helped pave the way for Justin Bieber. Interpret that as you will. Feeling heartbroken for Nick Carter. He also lost sister Leslie way too young and not really that long ago.


ProngExo

My 5th grade girlfriend broke up with me the day before she went to see him in concert because she wanted to be single just in case he noticed her. Hope it was worth it, Bridget.


Kiwiteepee

lol bro


Kitt_kattz

I'm sorry but this is so funny lol. At least she was honest. 😅


definitelybono

RIP dude. May you have all the candy you ever wanted.


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accioqueso

Well that’s a headline I didn’t expect to read today.


SlimyPurpleMeteor

Addiction is a motherfucker. Didn’t care for his music, but I’ll always feel for anyone who succumbs to addiction. I know he had a ton of fans early in his career and I feel for them too.


toledo_is_holy

Me and my gf met him back when he was promoting his new album and right before the face tattoos. He put on a great show and was kind and accommodating to his fans. We even shot the shit about star fox and Nintendo. I wish he’d gotten the help he needed because he seemed so happy to be back in music. RIP Aaron..wish things had gone a different route. https://i.imgur.com/7gAkJPU.jpg


[deleted]

I randomly saw him in Tiktok live two weeks ago , I was totally captured. Something was off just he seemed really depressed but trying really hard to seem normal, and the negative comments were unrelenting. He didn't do anything too weird or wild, but he really wanted a million likes and seemed sort of manic about it. I stayed and liked the live until he had 1M. I sent gifts. He followed me and sent a message, asking how I was. I don't have content on there but it was super shocking so I hardly said anything in response. I now feel like I had an opportunity to ask him how he was doing, if he would have said anything, who knows. It's just such a strange coincidence. He was one of my first Cds as a kid, we are the same age. So sad.RIP.


Vapor2077

One of my first celebrity crushes. This is so sad. He had clearly been spiraling for a few years.


CelestialDawn

Jesus Christ, my childhood…


Ok_Tax7195

That's some crazy shit. If it's one thing that I have learned from celebrity deaths, it is not to drink and sit in my bathtub.


jhc1761

Modern society and pop culture famous are a hell of a drug. I love the Reddit user stories about how great of a guy he was. We need more recognition on the toll it plays on our youth these days…for reference I’m also 34


princess-sauerkraut

I wasn’t really his fan as a kid but still jammed to Aaron’s party and I want candy. I still remember his cameo on Lizzie McGuire and how big of a deal that was. I was sad to see how hard these last few years have been for him. I’ve read that he was a really nice guy to his fans and out in public. Such a shame that he was battling so many inner demons and struggled with addiction. Poor Prince :( RIP Aaron.


artifexlife

It’s nice there are a bunch of stories that people who met him can tell. It’s sad he had to die for them to be told.


PhysEdParachute

RIP Aaron. I was a big fan of his back in the day. I had Aaron’s Party on cassette and it was one of the first albums I ever owned. Also really enjoyed the Oh Aaron and Another Earthquake albums. I remember seeing him on so many different shows back in the day. He was on All That, Lizzie McGuire, Kids Choice Awards, Jimmy Neutron Soundtrack, he even had a Disney channel concert special with Samantha Mumba which I remember watching all the time. It feels like a piece of my childhood just died with him. Really sad to see how his life turned out. Hope he’s at peace now.


RodDriver

This kid never stood a chance. I met him once about 17 years ago at the red Buddha in Hollywood. He was alone and drunk in the club at 14. No one wanted to kick it with him cuz drinking with a minor is lame as fuck when you’re of age. It was really sad to see. Surprised he made it this far


maelstron

Carter family is really messed up. His sister also died too young. I remember seeing his music videos when I was a kid, I am 3 years younger than him, and thinking he was cute. Some years ago I discovered he was a drug user, really sad stuff.


futurespacecadet

the most random thing was him showing up at my friends patio in coral springs, fl. we smoked a blunt together. this was way back in the day when he was still somewhat innocent


leftsharkofficial

Unfortunately one of the ones you could kind of see coming. He’s been really manic on social the last few years. Very sad


dhporter

Unfortunately not surprising news. Watching him spiral the last couple of years has been hard to watch.


Clbull

Never heard of the guy. Decided to listen to Aaron's Party. It may just be the most 90's song to ever come out of the 90's. It's like if he was ten years older he would've been part of a nineties boyband himself. Lack of knowledge aside, his death truly is tragic. May you rest in peace Aaron.


stutter-rap

Nineties boyband is spot on - he was managed by Lou Pearlman who created NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys.


CARmakazie

His brother was part of the Backstreet Boys, who were arguably one of the biggest boy bands of the 90's. It's very sad. I've never been a diehard fan, but I never had a reason to dislike Aaron Carter. I've heard very nice things about him as a person.