Aaron Carter was probably one of the most notable stars the bubblegum pop era from the late ’90s and early 2000s. However, after fading from the spotlight, things went downhill with Carter.
The 28-year-old former child star opened up about drugs, depression and drama in his family in a rare television interview as part of the Oprah: Where Are They Now? special. Carter said his life started taking a turn for the worst shortly after his parents told him they were divorcing – just an hour before he was set to film MTV Cribs.
“It was 2004 or 2003, a lot of money was coming in, we had the biggest estate in all of the Florida Keys,” he shared on the show. “I had to show all the cameras my life that I was losing and nobody ever knew it.”
“The depression was brought on because I loved my family being together. I did not want to see them divorced. I couldn’t dwell on it. I couldn’t think about it too much. I kind of had to block it out. I started partying and getting into a lot of trouble.. With everything that was happening, I started losing all my money. I went broke.”
Carter also explained that the music industry was no longer interested in him which had himself medicating his depression with drugs and alcohol before checking himself into rehab. “They had no interest in me, they didn’t want to touch me. They didn’t want to do anything.”
He also spoke about his sister Leslie Carter’s tragic death in 2012. “I wasn’t making that much money. Fortunately, I just hit my bonus – $10,000 the week before Leslie died – and I actually reached out to her two weeks before that and I said I’m going to get you the money to go to rehab. She wanted it and her phone got cut off. I think out of all the experiences and all the things that happened with my sister’s passing, I just learned that life means so much more to me and more than just money and fame.”
Watch the interview from Oprah: Where Are They Now? here:
