Aaron Carter is not accepting much of anything these days. Support from his family, responsibility for his legal woes — seems like the troubled singer isn’t interested in owning any of that right now.
The 29-year-old was arrested Saturday in Georgia on suspicion of DUI and drug possession after local police received calls that an automobile was drifting all over the road and driving into the median. Aaron’s girlfriend, Madison Parker, explained in a statement that “His automobile had a new tire put on it and it went out of alignment,” hence the drifting, but he was found in possession of marijuana — which he claims to have a legal prescription for — at the time of his arrest. While the situation seems like it could be a series of unfortunate events with logical explanations, Aaron’s older brother, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, seemed concerned for his brother’s health and publicly Tweeted the following message to him: “To my brother: I love u no matter what & if u feel the need to reach for help, I am here and willing to help you get better.”
Aaron didn’t appreciate Nick’s message, responding with a statement of his own, saying “If my own blood (Nick) truly cared about my well-being, why wouldn’t he call me directly and have a conversation instead of making this about him through a very public forum. That’s not cool at all to use me for his PR and kick me while I am down. I love my family despite it through thick and thin.” We don’t necessarily disagree with Aaron–is a social media post really the best way to express personal feelings about a family member you think is in need of help? Could be that there is continued strain in the relationship (see below), that the brothers may not be speaking and Nick thought posting was the only way to reach his brother and express his support and concern for him.
The Carters are no strangers to tragedy, however, and regardless of whether Nick’s use of Twitter to reach out was in poor taste, he has reason to be concerned about his sibling’s drug use: the brothers lost their sister Leslie in 2012, at the age of 25 to an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
Here at PROOF, we’re well aware of the toll of child stardom can take on young celebs, and Aaron’s story is all too familiar. Aaron has been performing since the age of seven and released a debut solo album at the age of ten. By age 13 he was touring with his brother and the Backstreet Boys, and making regular appearances on Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel. His second album, entitled Aaron’s Party (Come Get It) was released in 2000 and went triple platinum. By the age of 16, he had released four albums, appeared on Broadway in Seussical the Musical, had an action figure in how own likeness, and had dated Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff (allegedly the same time). His family also appeared in their own reality series on E! In 2006, called House of Carters which featured all of his siblings. That’s a lot of responsibility for a teen. By 2011, Aaron entered treatment to treat undisclosed “emotional issues” as well as addiction and was devastated by the loss of sister Leslie in 2012. Since that time, he has reportedly become distant from his family, even missing brother Nick’s wedding in 2014 and Tweeting that he had “technical problems” getting there.
Aaron released an EP earlier this year. Here’s hoping he is able to get help if he needs it, make peace with his family if applicable and keep himself on a positive path.