A number of questions remain about Aaron Carter’s tragic death at the age of 34. Some of those close to him are still wondering how it's possible that the former teen idol was found dead on November 5 in a bathtub in his home. A cause of death has not yet been determined, as his family — including Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter — await toxicology results. However, the “I Want Candy” singer had been open in the past about his struggles with addiction. Now, Aaron’s manager has opened up, explaining he saw his client just a couple of days before he died and felt like something was off.
Taylor Helgeson, who had been Aaron Carter’s manager for eight months, said they met up at a music studio to discuss Carter putting out a new album. Helgeson was taken aback by his client’s physical appearance, he told Page Six that the singer looked “thin” and “extremely tired.” The manager said:
He didn’t seem okay. Now, when I say that, I think it’s really important to kind of context that. He didn’t seem okay physically … [but] mentally, he was the most excited I’ve seen him in months. He was very intelligent and he was very conscious of what people wanted to see from him.
Taylor Helgeson said he was confused and concerned about Aaron Carter’s physical appearance, because it didn’t match up with his excitement for his upcoming projects.
Aaron Carter, however, was known to struggle with mental illness, and in 2019, the singer revealed that he’d been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Raven-Symoné spoke about mental health when she sent condolences to Nick Carter and Aaron’s twin sister Angel after Aaron's passing. The actress, who grew up in the same circles of pop stardom as Aaron in the early aughts, said it’s time to start focusing on mental health and “stop losing our youth to it.”
Nick Carter also alluded to his brother’s past issues in an emotional tribute to Aaron Carter. While they had a complicated relationship, Aaron was able to make amends with Nick before his death, and while the older brother acknowledged their rocky road, he stated that his “love for him has never ever faded.” Nick also said he’d always hoped Aaron would be able “to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed.”
A deeper look into Aaron Carter’s state of mind might be revealed in the memoir the singer penned before his death. However, the book, titled Aaron Carter: An Incomplete Story of an Incomplete Life may never see the light of day. Despite a planned release date of November 15, the publisher chose to postpone the release after Carter’s publicist said the singer had changed his mind about doing the book while he was writing it. Releasing the book, the publicist said, would go against the late singer’s wishes.
Hilary Duff, who dated Aaron Carter in the early 2000s and posted her own tribute to the former pop star, brutally called out the publishing company. She accused them of trying to “capitalize on this tragedy” with “unverified clickbait.”
There are clearly still a lot of questions and a lot of pain surrounding the loss of Aaron Carter, and hopefully his friends and family will be able to get some answers and find some closure.
