Speaking to comedian Neal Brennan on The Joe Rogan Experience, the host said he denied Carter’s requests to appear as a guest on the podcast.
The 34-year-old brother of Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter was found dead in a bathtub at his home in Lancaster, California, on November 5.
A cause of death has not been established yet as a toxicology report could take months, but Carter was known to have addiction issues. His older brother, Nick, blamed “addiction and mental illness” as “the real villain,” in a statement after his death.
Rogan, 55, and his guest were talking about the effect of long-term drug misuse when Brennan referred to Carter’s recent passing.
“He was trying to come on [to the podcast],” Rogan said. “I didn’t think I would have a good conversation with him. It’s just I’ve had conversations with multiple child stars. It’s a sad reality that they don’t develop. There is no redoing that.”
The pair then discussed some other child stars who “seem to be balanced,” such as Oscar-winner Jodie Foster, 59, or Harry Potter star Emma Watson, 32, who both took a break from acting to attend college.
“If you make a concerted effort to do something else and you have — this is a big one — you have to hope your parents didn’t f*** you monetarily,” Brennan commented, before Rogan said he had a friend who had been a child star that “learned late in life that his parents stole $6 million from him.”
Carter started working when he was only nine years old as an actor, singer, and rapper. He released six studio albums, including his 1997 self-titled debut.
His second album, in 2000, Aaron’s Party (Come Get It), propelled him to fame and became a huge hit, achieving three times platinum status certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.
In his first few years as a pop star, Carter opened for the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears on tour.
Carter also starred in an E! reality series House of Carters with his siblings, Nick, Bobbi Jean, Leslie and Angel.
He leaves behind one son, Prince, 11 months, whom he shared with his ex-fiancee, Melanie Martin.
Carter and Martin lost custody of Prince in October, and the baby has been living with Martin’s mom in the meantime.
Carter had been open about his addiction to prescription medication and even foretold his untimely death during a September 2019 appearance on the talk show The Drs, saying his greatest fear was dying young.
He had reached out to The Drs because he wanted to get off drugs following the death of his and Nick’s sister Leslie from a drug overdose at age 25 in 2012.
