Apparently, Aaron Carter never even wanted his memoir to see the light of day!
As we’ve been reporting, the 34-year-old singer was working on a book for three years before his sudden death. It is now set to be released under the title Aaron Carter: An Incomplete Story of an Incomplete Life and will hit the shelves on November 15 through publisher Ballast Books. But according to Page Six, Aaron did not want the memoir released and actually tried to stop the publisher from doing so before his death. His publicist claimed to the outlet on Friday:
“Aaron, in the midst of [working on the book], said, ‘I want nothing to do with this’ and stopped, so the fact that the publisher is saying it’s green-lit, it’s not. That’s against Aaron’s wishes.”
Related: Aaron Claimed He Had ‘Over 100 Seizures’ From Huffing Addiction In Interview Before Death
Wow… If the publisher knew publishing the book would be against the I Want Candy singer’s wishes, it is incredibly disrespectful and awful to now be rushing this release so soon after his death — or even at all.
The memoir has already caused a bunch of controversy as several excerpts were already released, some of which centered around his past relationship with Hilary Duff and how he took her virginity when she was about 13 years old. And of course, the 35-year-old wasn’t happy about the “disgusting” memoir and slammed it for being published. She said in a statement:
“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.”
And she wasn’t the only one who called out the Ballast Books for capitalizing on Aaron’s death! His management team and publicists agreed with Hillary, as Big Umbrella Management’s Taylor Helgeson said in a statement to The Post:
“In the few short days following our dear friends 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.”
It’s terrible that there so many people are trying to make some money off Aaron’s passing. However, the ghostwriter and publisher of the book Andy Symonds fired back, saying the rapper “hired” him to “help tell the world his story”:
“That story, while tragically cut short, was filled with good and bad. His life was far from pretty, and understandably certain people in the public eye don’t want some of the stories Aaron tells in his book to come to light. That doesn’t make them any less true or newsworthy.”
He added:
“Aaron had a right — as we all do — to tell his story. As a journalist, I am honored that he chose me to help him do that. In addition to being cathartic for him, Aaron hoped this book would help others struggling with addiction and mental illness. I hope and believe it will do that.”
Innerestingly enough, when Page Six asked Andy if Aaron ever shared he did not want to move forward with the memoir, he did not comment further. Hmm…
What are your thoughts on this situation, Perezcious readers? Do you plan on purchasing the book now knowing Aaron supposedly never wanted it released? Let us know in the comments below!
[Image via MEGA/WENN]