Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter, now streaming on Max, is a four-episode Investigation Discovery docuseries that features sexual assault allegations against Backstreet Boy Nick Carter made by three different women, looks at the nature of toxic fandom: the kind of people who would embarrass a online accuser. and discards #metoo in favor of a different hashtag, #HisSideToo, and explores the troubled life of Nick’s brother, former teen pop singer Aaron Carter, as well as the history of abuse and a series of tragedies that have existed within. the Carter family. There are bombs everywhere in fallen idols. But there are also frequent disclaimers: While Nick Carter declined to be interviewed, the docuseries definitely heard from his lawyers.ÂÂÂÂÂÂ
FALLEN IDOLS: NICK AND AARON CARTER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Initial shot: “Allegations of sexual assault against Nick Carter are the subject of ongoing litigation…the views expressed are those of the accusers alone…” the stark disclaimers that open fallen idols play with a clip of Nick speaking on behalf of his bandmates to a crowd of adoring fans. “Backstreet is back and we’re not going anywhere!” This is the level of celebrity his accusers face.
The essence: In the fourth episode of fallen idols, Nick Carter will actually be in court and facing his accusers, so this docuseries is not ripped from the headlines but rather part of the headlines themselves. The producers have even attached legal documents to the series, sent by Carter’s lawyers, that support his side of the story. But there is also the story of Melissa Schuman, and the singer and actress insists that she will not be silenced. fallen idols It follows Schuman as she checks out the Santa Monica apartment complex where she claims Nick Carter sexually assaulted her in 2003. But it also reconstructs the effervescent climate of pop music and celebrity in the 1990s, when Carter became a boy band sensation with the Backstreet Boys. and Schuman was part of Dream, a girl group formed by P Diddy and Bad Boy Records. Nick was the youngest and most popular Backstreet Boy, and Schuman was pressured to date him, because her manager and her label wanted publicity.
By 2003, Schuman had left Dream to focus on acting. But it was during the filming of a movie in which they were both when the assault occurred in Santa Monica. Through tears, Schuman goes into detail about the incident, and her father Jerry is also interviewed, describing how her daughter lost her love for singing and acting as a result. In later episodes, fallen idols It will also feature Carter accusers Ashley Repp and Shay Ruth, Nick Carter’s ex-girlfriend Kaya Jones, the singer and former Pussycat Dolls member who has publicly spoken of her support for Schuman, and detail how Nick’s brother, Aaron finally offered his own support to his brothers’ accusers.
Aaron Carter died at age 34 in 2022, and Bobbie Jean Carter, Aaron and Nick’s sister, died of a drug overdose in 2023. fallen idols explores the alcohol abuse that existed in the family, how the Carter children were put into show business for financial gain, and how the Carters’ dysfunction was exacerbated by the addition of money and fame. “Nick, from what I understand,” says former MTV host (and Jugo Mobile contributor) Dave Holmes, “saw pop music as his ticket out of a home life that was a little sketchy.” That his celebrity and status as a member in good standing in the world’s best-selling boy band would eventually serve to insulate him from any responsibility is also an argument in fallen idols. And from Melissa Schuman’s perspective, the music industry did not support her story and instead she seemed to be actively engaged in building an alibi for Carter, a bankable male star.
What shows will it remind you of? Sexual assault, the courage to report and the consequences of the report are at the heart of the new Spanish drama. Raising voices on Netflix. The Netflix documentary Victim/suspect explores how police can misrepresent victims’ statements and turn them into grounds for their arrest. and the series Incredible adapted the true story of a teenage sexual assault victim who was accused of making false rape accusations before she was finally vindicated.
Our opinion: “We were at the mercy of adults who were sexualizing me as a teenager; we had no say.” Melissa Schuman’s description of her time in the singing group Dream is pretty disgusting, especially because… This contrasts with boy bands of the same era, when young men were portrayed as proudly virile. objects of sexual achievement, while women in girl groups and pop music in general were often publicly shamed. (In Britney Spears’ case, this is inexplicably still happening.) As powerful as Schuman’s decision to come forward is, it only becomes stronger when combined with the stories of his fellow accusers. “It is the accusation of the entertainment business as a clearinghouse for terrible behavior that has a significant impact on fallen idols. “People are like screaming your name with lust,” says Dave Holmes, describing the madness of the early Backstreet Boys phenomenon. “It has to be a super destabilizing way to grow.” Nick Carter, already the product of a difficult home life, was able to transition into an industry that would ignore his track record in favor of profiting from the results.
But what about the superfans? fallen idols It also includes interviews with people like Tiffany, Stephanie and Sam, people whose decades-long devotion to the Backstreet Boys informs their denial of the allegations against their heroes. It’s another intriguing angle, and one that speaks to the understated, measured tone of idolswhich at every turn (there’s another one of those stern disclaimers, right in the middle of an episode) emphasizes that it’s not taking sides in a battle of claims and counterclaims that’s still ongoing.
Sex and skin: Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter includes frank descriptions of sexual assault and violence against women.
Parting Shot: Once Melissa Schuman made the difficult decision to share her story, she was shocked by the torrent of online negativity that followed almost immediately. “Nothing could have prepared me, my family or my husband for what was about to happen…”
Sleeping star: As journalist Scaachi Koul guides us through the rise of gossip blogs in the 2000s, it’s a rare look back at a part of pop culture history that feels super dated and incredibly relevant. Nick Carter was dating Paris Hilton, until they weren’t, and then there were blind elements and anonymous sources pointing out the bruises he was said to have suffered during their relationship. This was not an opportunity for accountability. Instead, as Koul points out, the era of gossip blogs perpetuated a kind of celebrity incandescence that silenced more serious coverage.
Most pilot line: Melissa Schuman describes what she says happened that day in 2003. “He put my hand on him and I chose to do something less worse. He was afraid that if he hadn’t done it, he would have done something really violent.”
Our opinion: Pass it on. Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter is an amplifier for the voices of women speaking out against sexual assault. But it also works as a deep pe into the Carter family, how their upbringing contributed to Nick and Aaron Carter’s behavior, and the relentless turmoil of the entertainment business, where lurking danger can often be codified.
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is a freelance writer and editor living in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.AA
