Backstreet Boys fans have been left feeling ‘absolutely horrible’ after watching the new Netflix documentary Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam.
The documentary, which dropped on Wednesday, looks back at how Lou Pearlman went from managing the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC to ending up behind bars for fraud.
Named after an NSYNC song, Dirty Pop analyses how the bands were originally founded and became the biggest pop groups in the world after being unknowingly promoted with fraud money that earned Pearlman millions.
The music manager was eventually found guilty of bank fraud in 2008 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but he died in custody in 2016 after serving just eight years of his term.
How the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC were founded has left some of their fans feeling chills after watching the documentary, with many taking to Twitter to share their experiences.
@AmandaCameron83 wrote an emotional statement, which began: ‘Just finished watching this documentary on Netflix about Lou Pearlman called ‘Dirty Pop’ – it talks about the Ponzi Scheme that he got away with for 30 years, which involved his creation of several pop boy bands!’
‘He put together one of my favourite bands – Backstreet Boys, but the way he did it and took advantage of so many was SO wrong! I feel absolutely horrible for the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and the other bands that he helped create.’
She continued on to say that the two groups – which started the careers of the likes of Justin Timberlake – never received a fair share of the money they earned for Pearlman.
‘I also feel horrible for all of the people that invested their money in the ‘savings fund’ that he created because they thought it was going to be an amazing return. When he was finally caught, most people didn’t get their money back, because he had already spent it.’
@RavenTBrunner said: ‘Dirty Pop on Netflix is excellent. Refuses to gloss over anything while exploring Lou Pearlman’s downfall and the rise of boy bands in the ‘90s. Hard-hitting moments.’
Meanwhile, @SantaSpearsy2K commented: ‘Thank goodness Britney Spears was smart enough to leave (girl group) Innosense and pursue a solo career running away from Lou Pearlman’s slimy [clutches].’
Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean said of his experiences in the band: ‘We all admired Lou and looked up to him until everything started to come out. He messed with a lot of people’s lives.’
In the documentary, NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick says: ‘[We asked ourselves] Why are we still working our butts off for nickels and dimes and Lou is making millions? That is when we realised, we need to do something drastic.’
After some members of the boy bands ‘begged’ for their rightful earnings, their appeals were rejected by management, leading to a dramatic court battle.
The Backstreet Boys sued Pearlman in 1998, followed by NSYNC in 1999. Lance Bass later revealed members of NSYNC they’d received only $10,000 (£7800) each for years of work, while living on $35 (£30) daily allowances.
Both groups eventually reached settled with Pearlman out of court, but this was only the beginning as the manager’s horrific business practises started to be exposed.
In 2006, financial investigators uncovered a plot that he’d defrauded investors out of more than $1 billion over the course of his career. He was finally jailed two years later, owing hundreds of millions of dollars.
Backstreet Boys were formed in 1993, with the group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson.
The group hit the big-time almost immediately and went on to have a run of successful worldwide hits, including Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) and I Want It That Way.
After the success of his first group, Pearlman then founded NSYNC in 1995, consisting of members Kirkpatrick, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, and JC Chasez.
The group had two big rounds of success – the first, a brief run in 1996, the next in the early 2000s with hits such as Bye Bye Bye and It’s Gonna Be Me.
NSYNC split in the early 2000s as Timberlake went solo, while the Backstreet Boys went on hiatus.
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