On November 5, police responded to a 9-1-1 call from actor and singer Aaron Carter’s Lancaster, California home. When police arrived, they found Carter unresponsive in his bathtub. He was declared dead not long after, at just 34 years old. Since Carter’s passing, many celebrities, including Lizzie McGuire star Hilary Duff, have sent out condolences to the Carter family. The Disney Channel star and Carter had dated on and off for a few years back in the early 2000s.
Less than one week after Carter’s death, book publisher Ballast Books announced that they would publish Carter’s unfinished memoir, which he had worked on for three years before his death. Not long after the announcement was made to release the unfinished book on November 15, Duff sent a statement to E! News and slammed the decision.
“It’s really sad that within a week of Aaron’s death there’s a publisher that seems to be recklessly pushing a book out to capitalize on this tragedy without taking appropriate time or care to fact check the validity of his work.
To water down Aaron’s life story to what seems to be unverified click-bait for profit is disgusting. In no way do I condone shedding any light on what is so obviously an uninformed, heartless, money grab.”
Another person who was disgusted by the decision to release Carter’s memoir so soon after his death is his rep, Taylor Helgeson of Big Umbrella Management, who released a statement to The New York Post:
“We as Aaron’s management would like to thank Hilary Duff for her statement regarding the book that is set to be released.
In the few short days following our dear friend’s passing we have been trying to grieve and process while simultaneously having to deal with obscenely disrespectful and unauthorized releases, including an album titled ‘Blacklisted,’ a single titled ‘Lately,’ and now a book.
This is a time for mourning and reflection not heartless money grabs and attention seeking. We would ask the parties responsible to remove the aforementioned content and that no further content be released without approval from his family, friends, and associates.”
The book is rumored to state that Duff and Carter lost their virginities to each other when Duff was just 13. Duff and her team have not commented on those allegations.
Carter’s cause of death has not been determined at this time, but, according to reports, empty cans of decompressed air were found in his bedroom. A cause of death may not be determined until the toxicology reports are completed, which could take weeks.