Pop Life

Aaron Carter Opens Up About His Problems With Drug Addiction And Depression

aaron-carter-gq-flag

In a rare television interview, 28-year-old Aaron Carter appeared on Oprah: Where Are They Now to open up about the host of well-documented personal problems that came along with his meteoric success as a pop star in the late ’90s.

The precipitating event was the abrupt divorce of his parents; an announcement made mere minutes before he was set to film an episode of MTV Cribs. 

Related: Are Chris Crocker And Aaron Carter A Couple? These Photos Made Some People Think So.

“It was 2004 or 2003,” he says. ” A lot of money was coming in, we had the biggest estate in all of the Florida Keys. 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.”

He began crashing at Nick Carter’s house while filming Dancing With The Stars, but was unable to make a grand comeback to pop stardom: “They were not interested in me,” he says. “They had no interest in me. They didn’t want to touch me. They didn’t want to do anything.”
Related: Aaron Carter Fondles His Junk, Sings “Blurred Lines” For Gays At Market Days
According to E! Online, he later checked himself into a rehab center.In the episode, he also meditates on Leslie Carter’s tragic death in 2012, and the myriad “what if’s” that haunt him:

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 to me and more than just money and fame.”

Watch the segment below: 

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated

13 Comments

  • ErikO

    Is he gay or bisexual?

  • jag4313

    I thought he died

  • Sukhrajah

    1). Why is this being ‘reported’ (nee rebroadcasting) on Queerty? Even if this were for advertising revenue – does the same advertiser, not offer more compelling content relevent to Queerty’s readership? Or, does Queerty leadership simply not care enough about readership, to bring them more compelling and relevant stories/experiences/pieces?

    2). What connection does this have to the Queer community? Would Queerty like us to believe that, as queer men we would be a sympathetic audience, with which to share stories of addiction and drug abuse? Or, does Queerty assume that, as queer men, we would be attracted to a washed out, washed up, pop-tart?

    3). Dear Mr. Carter, you have the money, the time, and the resources to fix your life – spare us the story, get much better and then be successful at conquering your depression, and not abusing drugs. End of story. That, or you fail, at which point – you get back up, dust yourself off, and start again. Millions of Americans suffer from the same, and/or worse – but do not have the privileges of fame, wealth, and the connections necessary to make change happen. Now, if I were remotely cynical – this would look desperately like a hoped ‘rebound’ for your career (and/or redemption story) – which, would be unintelligent. Tying your career to your self-esteem, is not productive for the always second-most-popular Carter.

  • RIGay

    Wow… age has not been kind.

  • Gates

    What would really be news is a story about one of these child pop stars that wasn’t depressed and addicted.

  • ChrisK

    OOhhhhhh…Mommy and daddy divorced and I ruined my life with drugs. Cry me a river loser.

  • Chris

    This young man has shown himself to be a gay ally.

    And the general snarkiness of responses to his story shows how little people know about mental illness. May none of you ever experience the depths of depression that I have seen among my friends and some family members.

    I, for one, am glad at his rebound.

  • jamessavik

    I don’t want to look at you either with those prison tatts on your neck dumb ass.

  • Kayden

    @Chris: Thanks for your words regarding mental illness. As someone who suffers from depression, it’s hard to read comments trivializing the horrific reality of what people have to cope with on a daily basis. I don’t know anything about this celebrity, but it takes courage to talk about mental illness because of stigmas, preconceived notions and misinformation people have regarding this diagnosis. I live in silence most of the time because I get reactions from family and friends similar to what I’ve read here. I rarely comment on anything on the web, but I was touched by your response. I’ve been really struggling lately and the comments here reminded me of why I suffer in silence- but your few sentences gave me a glimmer of hope that someone out there understands. Thank you

  • Louis

    @Kayden: First of all im so sorry for what you have been dealing with I know all too well how it feels to suffer from depression I get it a good amount myself and its no laughing matter .

    Please ignore the insensitivity and callousness the problem with this community is they act too much like right wingers with the constant insensitivity and overcompensating machismo and less like decent empathetic human beings towards one another and that negatively represents us as a whole when they do this.

    Wishing you peace love and strength and know you are never alone in this regard so many people even celebrities suffer from depression its normal and its a struggle for many of us you are not alone my friend.

    As far as Aaron hes a lovely young man and hes been an LGBT ally for years and it angers and disheartens me to see so many here ridiculing this young man especially when he has been so empathetic and loving and supportive of us and our rights for years .

    Our allies are our friends our supporters they deserve better then this kind of rude and discourteous treatment.

    Again wishing you peace and love and strength stay strong man.

  • Louis

    @Chris: Kudos for being one of the few empathetic individuals commenting here you and Kayden are those I truly wish there were more of within this community.

  • Manchester

    Didn’t this trick support Trump up until recently?

  • seaguy

    I wouldn’t have minded if he had tried Gay 4 pay porn.

Comments are closed.