Lance Bass opens up on music conman Lou Pearlman after scandal that engulfed the likes of Backstreet Boys and NYSNC
Investigative documentaries on powerful figures in the music industry are all the rage at the moment: just look at the furore surrounding Leaving Neverland, for instance.
A new film on the infamous music mogul Lou Pearlman – who created and managed such boy bands as NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys – looks like another must-watch, with former NSYNC member Lance Bass taking the wheel on this closer look into the life story of his late boss.
A controversial figure up until his death, Pearlmans story has now been closely examined by Bass in Aaron Kunkels new film, The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story, which debuted on YouTube Premium this week.
Pearlman, who died in prison in 2016 aged 62, pleaded guilty in 2008 to running one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history, and was sentenced to up to 25 years in jail.
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That conviction followed a number of contractual lawsuits which were filed against Pearlman by the members of the pop groups he created, who repeatedly accused the impresario of scamming them out of the money theyd earned in their respective bands.
One notable example of Pearlmans alleged misdeeds (which is covered in the film) took place three years into NSYNCs existence, when they were awarded their first-ever paycheck – which, despite the bands music accumulating records sales into the millions, saw each member being paid just $10,000.
Speaking to The LA Times about the revelatory film – which features interviews with the likes of Aaron Carter, NSYNCs JC Chasez and the Backstreet Boys AJ McLean – Bass said that he only agreed to front Kunkels film on the basis that it carried the correct tone.
Because so far, anything thats ever been told about Lou was the salacious, sex, drugs and rock n roll type stories — the Vanity Fair [article], the “American Greed” [episode], Bass said.
I wanted to tell a more in-depth story.
Bass added that hed forgiven everything from the past and Lou, and that making the film had helped him find peace with the lingering memories of the situation.
I have no ill feelings whatsoever. That is off my shoulders, he disclosed. Read More – Source
