Episode 9: Lou Pearlman (Back Street Boy and NSYNC Defrauder)

American business man Lou Pearlman created some of the biggest boy bands in the 1990s, including NSYNC, The Backstreet Boys, O Town, and LFO to name a few. Lou even called himself the 6th Backstreet Boy. These bands were performing to sold out concerts while selling merch and hundreds of millions of albums to screaming fans around the world.

It was estimated that Lou Pearlman's peak net worth was $300 million during the boy band craze era in the 1990s and early 2000s. So how did Lou  end up $300 million dollars in debt in 2006 and sentenced to 25 years of prison in 2008? Find out this and lots of other random boy band trivia today on the Controversial Figures Podcast.


Connect with us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FiguresPodcast

Episode Sources:

• ABC News. The Hitman: From Pop to Prison The Hitman: From Pop to Prison l 20/20 l PART 1
• Vanity Fair. Mad About the Boys https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/11/pearlman200711
• Wikipedia Bye Bye Bye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bye_Bye_Bye
• Wikipedia *NSYNC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSYNC
• Wikipedia Photo Mill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_mill
• Wikipedia The Backstreet Boys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backstreet_Boys
• Wikipedia Lou Pearlman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Pearlman
• Music: The 6 is Silent by Skyjelly

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Transcript

00:00

American business man Lou Pearlman created some of the biggest boy bands in the 1990s, including NSYNC, The Backstreet Boys, O Town, and LFO to name a few. Lou even called himself the 6th Backstreet Boy. These bands were performing to sold out concerts while selling merch and hundreds of millions of albums to screaming fans around the world.

00:23

It was estimated that Lou Pearlman's peak net worth was $300 million during the boy band craze era in the 1990s and early 2000s. So how did Lou  end up $300 million dollars in debt in 2006 and sentenced to 25 years of prison in 2008? Find out this and lots of other random boy band trivia today on the Controversial Figures Podcast.

00:50

Music Interlude

01:17

Welcome to Controversial Figures; a podcast about intriguing figures in the media. My name is Tammy Hawkins. If you enjoy this podcast, please leave a 5 star rating and comment on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts - and don't forget to subscribe to the show. 

01:36

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02:09

Alright, now let's get to the sordid tale of the 6th Backstreet Boy!

02:16

Lou Pearlman was born 1954 and raised in Flushing, New York. As a child, Lou lived at Mitchell Gardens Apartments which was located across from Flushing Airport. Lou said as a child he would spend hours outside, watching blimps take off and land at the airport. He said it was basically his playground growing up.

02:39

According to Lou's autobiography, titled Bands, Brands, & Billions, it was during this period that he used his position on his school newspaper to earn press pass credentials and get his first ride in a blimp. This is disputed by his childhood friend Alan Gross, who claims he - Alan - was the school reporter, and he allowed Pearlman to tag along. This is your first hint that Lou has a loose relationship with the truth.

03:12

One thing that is known to be true is that Lou Pearlman happened to be the 1st cousin of Art Garfunkel. His cousin's fame - and wealth - inspired Lou's own interest in the music business. As a teenager he managed a band, but when he felt it was taking to long to turn a profit, he decided to turn his attention to aviation instead. 

03:37

During Lou's first year as a student at Queens College, he wrote a business plan for a class project based on the idea of a helicopter taxi service in New York City. By the late 1970s, he planned to launch that exact business. But Lou couldn't get the childhood memory of blimps out of his mind. 

04:00

So, blending these ideas together, Lou persuaded German businessman Theodor Wüllenkemper to train him on blimps, spending time at Wüllenkemper's facilities in West Germany to learn more about the airships. How they were built, operated, and maintained.

04:18

When Lou returned to the US from his trip to West Germany, Pearlman formed Airship Enterprises Limited. He then proceeded under his new company, to lease the use of a blimp to the company Jordache. The only snag was - Lou didn't own a blimp yet. 

04:36

However, never one to be deterred - Lou negotiated that Jordache prepay for the blimp lease, and he then used those funds to construct a blimp using his newly obtained German knowledge.  As one might expect, the blimp promptly crashed upon flight. It had been designed with too much gold leaf foiling on the exterior, making the blimp too heavy in overall weight. It crashed after floating only a few hundred feet. 

05:06

The blimp costed maybe 5 figures to make. However, Lou had insured the blimp for millions.

05:15

So, despite, Jordache and Airship Enterprises Limited suing each other after this disaster, seven years later it was Lou Pearlman who was awarded $2.5 million in damages thank you to this insurance policy.

05:28

Here I would like to offer a quote from a Vanity Fair article that I'll cover in more detail in the latter half of this article. In discussion Lou Pearlman's ability to sell people on an idea the article said quote, 

05:44

"A big talker and a better listener, Pearlman drew people into his world by deducing their dreams and promising to deliver them. But his soft edges cloaked an unyielding will and the purring persuasions of a televangelist. “You could point your finger in his face and hold a Bible in one hand and tell him your name, and he could tell you you were wrong and make you believe it,” recalls Jay Marose, Pearlman’s publicist in later years. “He could make you believe anything. Anything at all.”

06:23

Always the serial entrepreneur, Lou Pearlman would start his next new company - Airship International. Accepting that building blimps was harder than anticipated, Lou took the new company Airship International public to raise the $3 million needed to actually buy a functioning blimp. To help raise money with investors, Lou Pearlman stated he was partnering with Theodor Wullenkemper - for the record, this was a lie. 

06:50

Lou did obtain some clients through this company, including McDonald's, Metlife, and SeaWorld leasing blimps for advertising. However, Lou would have business failure again in his life when he had 3 different blimps crash along with losing a major client. His stock price plummeted from a high of $6 a share to the price of 3 cents and share. Airship International was no more. They were bust.

07:17

However, while Lou had his air flight business, he had also had private jets that could be leased. He claimed while Airship International was in business, his planes had flown Paul McCartney, Madonna, The Rolling Stones….and….New Kids on the Block - and that band in particular would get him thinking.

07:40

Considering his next opportunity to hit it big after his moderate success thus far, Lou Pearlman couldn't quit thinking about that new band that was on the top of the charts and was raking in hundreds of millions of dollars. So much money that they were able to lease his planes for millions despite only being young teenagers. Lou didn't have the singing, dancing, or looks to be in a band - but he thought, why couldn't I create a successful boy band like New Kids on the Bock.

08:09

Now for my listeners that might be too young to remember…New Kids on the Block were a true phenomenon. So much so, that even today - almost 30 years later - there are thousands of fans, mostly female, that pay thousands of dollars each year to go on cruise ships with New Kids on the Block to mingle and watch them perform. I'm serious, look it up - I have a friend that goes on the cruise each year. It looks like a lot of fun if you're into cruises and 30 year old boy band music.

08:17

Step by Step, ooooh baby. Yes, I owned the album and played it enough times to still remember every word and the tonality to their songs to my embarrassment. I had a huge metal pin with their faces printed on it on my school backpack and they were on my lunchbox. 

08:17

I also remember my best friend Jennifer doing the Weird Al Yankovich parody version of New Kids on the Block's song 'You Got It (The Right Stuff)"…the parody titled by Al was…"You Got It (The White Stuff)" with lyrics about Oreos stuffing. Jennifer hip hop danced and lip synched to it while handing out Oreos to the class during a talent competition - which was a total boss bitch move in the 90s. Ahhh, those were simpler times. I digress.

09:35

Lou Pearlman saw the New Kids on the Block model, and their financial success, and thought - hey I could do that. Not like dance or sing. But I could assemble a boy band and promote them and take the profits. 

09:47

So, Lou swiftly created a new company, his 3rd for those keeping track. This company was called Continental Records. The first band that the record label would create would be called - The Backstreet Boys. The name came from Lou - he named the group after Orlando Florida's Backstreet Market, an outdoor flea market that was a popular teen hangout.

10:12

Lou Pearlman created a talent search across America to find 5 unknown vocal and dance performers, hand selected by Lou. He placed ads in papers across the country (note Americans still read papers back then). The ads read as follows:

10:30

"TEEN MALE VOCALIST - Producer seeks male teen singers that move well between 16-19 years of age wanted for "New Kids" type singing/dancing group. Send photo & bio of any kind."

10:46

Lou would hire Johnny Wright, a former New Kids on the Block manager, as well as Johnny's wife Donna to teach Lou some tricks of the trade. Lou would have the boys come into his airline hanger in Florida to perform.

11:00

The boys that won the competition were named: AJ McLean, Howie Dorough, Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, and Brian Littrell. Lou would provide choreographers, vocal lessons, tutoring, food. In addition to paying for all of these things for the boys, Lou also was a rotund man. Given the father like figure he was playing, his nickname at this time became Big Poppa which Lou owned proudly.

11:28

Big Poppa Lou was no pushover. He made the boys work long hours. Practicing nonstop. He was creating his vision of a money making boy band. And Lou gave the illusion to the boys and his coworkers that he was a billionaire.

11:51

The Backstreet Boys first album was self titled and released in 1996. This album obtained success in Europe, especially in Germany, but the band had not yet caught on in the United States. This would change with their next album - Backstreet's Back - released in 1997. This album would peak at number 4 on the US album chart and sell more than 28 million copies worldwide. 

12:17

To his credit, Lou Pearlman was extremely successful in creating his first boyband in partnership with Jive Records. The Backstreet Boys became the best selling boy band of all time with record sales of over 130 million - hitting gold, platinum, and diamond in 45 different countries. But their real stardom would occur when album 3 dropped.

12:43

The Backstreet Boys 3rd album - Millennium - would be recorded during a time of angst in the group. Brian Littrell had brought a lawsuit against Lou Pearlman and Trans Continental that same year, claiming that Lou had not been truthful about the group's earnings. It was noted that from 1993 to 1997, Lou Pearlman and Trans Continental took in about $10 million in revenue while the band only got $300,000 to share amongst the 6 of them.

13:15

Now here you might say - wait - there's 5 members of The Backstreet Boys. Ah, but see, that is not the case here. Lou Pearlman in the contact that The Backstreet Boys members signed stated Lou was the 6th member of the band - meaning he in particular would receive a share of the band's earnings as a member of the band. 

13:47

This was in addition to the amounts Lou and his company also received as their manager and publisher.  He also quite creepily would try to get into videos. If you watch one of their first videos for the song titled "We've Got It Going On" - you can see Lou Pearlman featured in the video around the 3 minute mark.

14:00

In 1999, 3 more members of the band Backstreet Boys - McLean, Richardson, and Dorough joined the lawsuit. Ultimately the lawsuit ended in a number of settlements to the band members. It was also in 1999 that the Backstreet Boys would break away from Lou Pearlman and Trans Continental.

14:23

What the Backstreet Boys didn't know was during their last few years working with Lou, he would already be creating his 2nd boy band - this band to be called - NSYNC. This band would be formed by then unknown: Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, and Lance Bass. Their self-titled album was released in 1997 with the hit single "I Want You Back". 

14:53

And of course there was a natural rivalry between The Backstreet Boys an NSYNC. And that was intentionally created by Lou. 

15:01

However, by the 2nd NSYNC album creation, the Lou Pearlman model progressed to the lawsuit piece. The NSYNC boys were hip to what Lou had pulled on The Backstreet Boys, and began looking closer at their own contracts and calculated revenues versus the cut each band member received. 

15:20

In 1999, NSYNC entered into a legal battle with Lou Pearlman. The group claimed Lou performed illicit business practices. NSYNC sued Lou and his record company, Trans Continental, for defrauding NSYNC of more than 50% of their earnings. Per the contract, Lou Pearlman was to only receive 1/6th of the earnings - as their 6th member. Yes he kept that schtick up - this guy really gives you the creeps, huh? Just wait, it gets much worse later.

15:55

NSYNC threatened to leave Lou for Jive Records. This prompted Lou and RCA to countersue NSYNC for $150 million and the use of the group's name. Ultimately the parties would reach a settlement out of court, and NSYNC would go on to sign with Jive.

16:18

In the year 2000 - which still sounds mystical to me being a baby of the 1980s - NSYNC would release their 2nd album titled No Strings Attached. Their first single was titled "Bye Bye Bye". While the lyrics of this hit single seem to describe the end of a relationship; it was reported to actually reference the group's separation from their previous manager Lou Pearlman and their record label RCA Records. This was also exemplified by the album's title - No Strings Attached - and the accompanying video which feature the NSYNC band members being controlled by marionette strings by an evil puppet master until finally freed. 

17:00

Bet you didn't realize how much symbolism was in that catchy little cheesy pop tune? The song Bye Bye Bye received a Grammy nomination in 2001 for Record of the year, but lost to U2's Beautiful Day. And the album No Strings Attached would sell 2.42 million record in it's first week - by the end of 2000 it has sold over 9.9 million copies globally. NSYNC was another certified success in Lou Pearlman's pocket.

17:31

Lou Pearlman was quickly becoming a media mogul type based on his reputation of creating highly profitable boy bands. Lou Pearlman would then go on to form O-Town through a ABC-MTV reality television series titled Making the Band. Lou also formed LFO, Take 5, Natural, and US5. He formed one girl group called Innosense which featured a then unknown Britney Spears in the very beginning as a short term member. 

18:08

Lou also expanded to having individual artists on his Transatlantic label, including Aaron Carter, Jordan Knight, Smilez & Southstar and C-Note.

18:20

Lou Pearlman had an eye for talent - and a penchant for fraud. Literally ALL of the music acts that Lou Pearlman worked with sued him in federal court for misrepresentation and fraud. And all cases that have been brought have either been won by those bringing forth the suit against Pearlman, or were settled out of court. Which gives strong legitimacy to the complainants and shows a clear pattern of fraud on the part of Mr. Pearlman. But wait there's more…

18:51

In 2002, Lou Pearlman purchased an internet-based talent company - then called Options Talent Group. This entity would go through a variety of names while Lou used it essentially as a photo mill scam. Now a photo mill scams feed off of naïve, young talent trying to find their big break. There's usually a vague ad in a paper or online that says it's a model casting shoot, all sizes and types are welcome - show up it could lead to an agent signing you! 

19:30

The applicants are not allowed to submit their own portfolios - they are required to pay for the photographer onsite to shoot their photos to be entered into the talent agency for opportunities. They are pressured to buy large photo packages based on false numbers of photos needed to send to agents that will never call. It's a fast way to part young hopeful people from their money with no promise of anything to occur after obtaining the expensive photos.

19:58

So, anyway, that is what Lou was doing for his current disgusting hustle. Scamming more young people out of money for his greedy desires.

20:06

Complaints were filed with the Better Business Bureau. The BBB found the company of a million names concerning, advising citizens to beware citing a "pattern of complaints concerning misrepresentation in selling practices'. The New York State Consumer Protection Board issued an alert, naming it the largest example they had found of a photo mill scam. 

20:31

San Francisco's labor commissioner declared Options/TCT/WSN in violation of California law, and several state agencies were reported to be investigating the company. However, soon none of it would matter, as the company would file bankruptcy. And Lou was probably planning to move on to his next con. But his luck had run out.

20:57

In 2006, investigators discovered Lou Pearl had been running a Ponzi scheme for 2 decades; defrauding investors over more than $300 million dollars. Lou with his affable nature, and somewhat positive business reputation would continually convince investors to invest in 2 of his companies: 

21:24

Trans Continental Airlines Travel Services Inc. and Trans Continental Airlines Inc. The only problem was, these companies didn't actually exist in real life. 

21:43

So, how was this Ponzi scheme discovered? An investor by the name of Julian Benscher owned about 7% of the Trans Continental Airlines stock for over 8 years. He was divesting some of his old investments when he noticed he wasn't receiving dividends on his Trans Continental Airlines stock. Perplexed, he call Lou Pearlman to complain. 

22:05

Lou blamed German businessman Theodor Wüllenkemper, saying it was that owner that was refusing to payout dividends. Theodor was a friend of Julian's. When Julian Benscher called Theodor Wullenkemper to ask about the missing dividends, he shares this is how the conversation went, this is from the Vanity Fair article:

22:26

“Wüllenkemper said, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘Trans Continental Airlines.’ Wullenkemper said, ‘What’s Trans Continental Airlines got to do with me?’ Julian said, ‘You own it. You own 82 percent of it.’ He starts laughing. 

22:47

Julian said, ‘Trans Con Air? Forty-nine airplanes?’ Wullenkemper said, ‘I have planes, but not this Trans Con Air. Julian, this has nothing to do with me.’ 

23:00

Julian said, "I went cold inside. Everything I had believed for eight years was a lie. I didn’t know what to do. There was no Trans Continental Airlines."

23:09

He would be one of many investors to take their suspicions to the authorities around what was called the Employee Investment Savings Account. This would lead the state of Florida's Office of Financial Regulation to begin examining Trans Con's EISA program in the fall of 2006. When Lou heard of this investigation, he began rapidly liquidating his assets - including multiple Rolls Royces and other automobiles. He also began laying off people still employed by Trans Continental.

23:44

The FBI would raid Lou Pearlman's mansion in mid February 2007. Hauling out computers and boxes of documents, the FBI would discover $317 million in missing money that was supposed to be in Trans Continental's EISA accounts, in addition to $156 million in vanished bank loans. Guess we know how Big Poppa paid for all his boy bands now.

24:13

It would be found that Lou Pearlman had used falsified FDIC, AIG and Lloyd's of London documents to win investors' confidence in his program titled Employee Investment Savings Account, and he used fake financial statements created by the fictitious accounting firm Cohen and Siegel to secure bank loans.

24:30

In February 2007, Florida regulators announced that Pearlman's Trans Continental Savings Program was indeed a massive fraud, and the state took possession of the company. Most of the at least $95 million which was collected from investors was gone. Orange County Circuit Judge Renee Roche ordered Pearlman and two of his associates, Robert Fischetti and Michael Crudelle, to bring back to the United States "any assets taken abroad which were derived from illegal transactions."

25:04

In March 2007, Lou Pearlman and all of his remaining companies were forced into bankruptcy.

25:12

It was at this time that Lou decided to make a run from the law. Guess owning planes can come in handy when you’re a criminal. Lou was reportedly seen in Israel, Russia, Belarus, Israel, Spain, Panama, Brazil, and Germany during his absconded period. Lou would be arrested in Indonesia on June 14, 2007 after being spotted by a tourist couple from Germany.

25:39

Lou Pearlman was then indicted by a federal grand jury on June 27, 2007. He was charged with three counts of bank fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud.

25:53

On May 21, 2008, Sharp sentenced Pearlman to 25 years in prison on charges of conspiracy, money laundering, and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding. Pearlman could reduce his prison time by one month for every million dollars he helped a bankruptcy trustee recover. 

26:12

And while stealing money from young men in addition to investors through illegitimate business practices is pretty awful… unfortunately, this tale is about to get really, really dark. So, I'd like to pause here for a moment and offer a trigger warning. For anyone that would like to avoid the conversation of alleged child abuse, I would suggest you skip forward by at least 5 minutes to avoid the next section of discussion around Lou Pearlman.

26:40

Now - I will admit, I intentionally try to avoid stories that involve any type of sexual abuse, because I personally find it very hard to deal with. However, as I've gotten older and reflected upon movements that have meant a lot to me - such as the Me Too movement. I know that abusers have gotten away with their ludicrously predatory behavior in large part because we as caring humans are loathe to want to think about such awful things. 

27:08

My opinion in reflecting upon this, is that we need to face the ugly. It will never change or stop if we don't. We need to be able to understand and identify the signs of this behavior, to help us better protect others from it. 

27:23

So, I apologize for feeling compelled to discuss this, and thank you for sticking with me. I will not describe any alleged acts, but rather the high level allegations. I leave it to you on what you feel comfortable sharing with your loved ones to help protect them from predators.

27:38

Alright. Deep breath. Here we go.

27:42

The  details I  share here come primarily from a very well researched and written Vanity Fair article titled "Mad About the Boys" from November 2007 as reported by Ryan Burrough. The article is available to read for free online if you'd like to know more. This Vanity Fair article was considered the first about this dark side of Lou Pearlman. This is the lead to the article, quote:

28:05

"Until he fled the country in January, accused of embezzling more than $300 million, Lou Pearlman was famous as the impresario behind the Backstreet Boys and ‘NSync. Turns out his investors weren’t the only victims, colleagues reveal: Pearlman’s passion for boy bands was also a passion for boys."

28:25

The article goes on to describe alleged situations in which Lou would show pornographic movies and jump naked into the young boys' beds in the morning to wrestle and play. It then goes on to describe situations in which young men were seen leaving Lou's bedroom at night. 

28:42

The full truth of what happened during these dark days is unclear based on who you want to listen to. I personally choose to listen to and believe those that say they are victims. Some of the boy band members have outright denied anything sexually improper ever occurred. Some member vehemently defend the allegations and give thorough descriptions of the abuse patterns.

29:02

Those that allege abuse state that it was widespread. They claim that Lou Pearlman used his position of power to coerce employees into uncomfortable sexual agreements to obtain success. Which, if true, is absolutely revolting and frankly quite believable.

29:19

One incident recapped in the article centers around young Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys when he was 17 in 1997. AJ Mclean's mother Denise McLean says of the incident

29:34

“My son did say something about the fact that Nick had been uncomfortable staying [at Lou Pearlman’s house]. For a while Nick loved going over to Lou’s house. All of a sudden it appeared there was a flip at some point. Then we heard from the Carter camp that there was some kind of inappropriate behavior. It was just odd. I can just say there were odd events that took place.”

29:56

Neither Nick Carter nor his  parents, Robert and Jane Carter, will address what, if anything, happened. But at least two other mothers of Pearlman band members assert Jane Carter termed Lou Pearlman a “sexual predator.” Phoenix Stone says he discussed the matter with both Nick and his mother. “With Nick, I got to tell you, this was not something Nick was comfortable talking about,” says Stone. “What happened? Well, I just think that he finally, you know, Lou was definitely inappropriate with him, and he just felt that he didn’t want anything to do with that anymore. There was a big blowup at that point. From what Jane says, yes, there was a big blowup and they confronted him.”

30:40

In a telephone interview, Jane Carter stopped just short of acknowledging Lou Pearlman made improper overtures to her son. “Certain things happened,” she told Vanity Fair, “and it almost destroyed our family. I tried to warn everyone. I tried to warn all the mothers.” Told that this article would detail allegations that Pearlman made overtures to other young men, she replies, “If you’re doing that, and exposing that, I give you a big flag. I tried to expose him for what he was years ago.… I hope you expose him, because the financial [scandal] is the least of his injustices.” When the Vanity Fair reporter asked why she won’t discuss it further, Jane Carter says she doesn’t want to jeopardize her relationship with Nick. “I can’t say anything more,” she says. “These children are fearful, and they want to go on with their careers.”

31:43

This was not the only rumor or allegation to be raised. 

31:47

According to the Vanity Fair article, Tim Christofore, who joined Lou Pearlman’s third boy band, Take 5, at the age of 13, remembers one sleepover when he and another boy were dozing. Lou Pearlman appeared at the foot of their bed, clad only in a towel. According to Christofore, Lou performed a swan dive onto the bed, wrestling with the boys, at which point his towel came off.

32:12

Christofore said quote, “We were like, ‘Ooh, Lou, that’s gross. What did I know? I was 13.”

32:18

Tim Christofore would also allege Lou would occasionally answer the door naked, claiming he had just got out of the shower. And another time he said Lou showed him security-camera footage of his girl group, Innosense, sunbathing topless. On yet another occasion, Christofore alleges Lou Pearlman invited all 5 band members of Take 5 to watch the move Star Wars in his viewing room. 

32:38

At one point, Star Wars switched off and a pornographic movie started showing instead. Being young boys at the time, they thought it was hilarious and they cheered. As an adult, Tim now knows this is predatory sexual normalization behavior and it is inappropriate for an adult and/or someone of power to do with minors.

33:02

A 20 year old personal assistant, Steve Mooney, described inappropriate touching from Lou, as did the lead singer of LFO Rich Cronin. They both shared stories of Lou claiming to feel their 'aura' being off, and proceeding to massage them. They said Lou would claim to be able to strengthen their aura so they would be irresistible to others. Man, I'm so creeped out right now, I can't imagine actually being in that disgusting situation.

33:37

Those that allege these acts occurred say they didn't say anything at the time because Big Poppa Lou told them specifically not to say anything, especially to their parents. They had a good time with Lou, and they didn't understand how he was grooming them until they were much older. And often is the case with those that experience sexual abuse - it is such still such a taboo and embarrassing topic that even if it did happen, many will never talk about it.

34:01

To be clear - these are all allegations that have not been proven in a court of law. On this podcast, we choose to believe victims that speak out. However, it should be acknowledge that Lou Pearlman was never taken to court or found guilty of any of the high level abuse allegations described.

34:18

So where is Lou Pearlman today? In 2008, Lou began his prison sentence with a projected release date of March 24, 2029. Lou suffered a stroke in 2010 while incarcerated. 

34:36

Lou was later diagnosed with an infection of the heart valve. He had surgery to replace the heart valve a few weeks before his death. But it wasn't enough. Lou Pearlman would die at the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami, Florida, on August 19, 2016, from cardiac arrest at 62 years old.

35:00

Manufactured boy bands were not a new idea - they've been around forever - some had strong success, but many didn’t. 

35:08

You had the Monkees in 1966. This group was conceived in 1965 by television producers Bob Rafelson and Bertschneider. The band was specifically created to adjoined a situation comedy series, also called the Monkees. The band was formed of 4 American actor/musicians. As is very usual for boy bands, other people wrote their songs and music. The boys in the band would play instruments, sing, and act in the show. One of the members of the band, Micky Dolenz, described The Monkees as "a TV show about an imaginary band…that wanted to be the Beatles that was never successful".

35:47

Then there was the Puerto Rican boy band group Menudo. The work Menudo is a Spanish synonym for little and in Puerto Rican Spanish is means loose change. This boy band was formed in 1977 by producer Edgardo Diaz, and it would become one of the most successful Latin boy bands in history. They had multiple albums, and produced well known starts Ricky Martin and Draco Rosa.

36:11

And also in the  1980s and 1990s there was Milli Vanilli. Now when I said that band name, some of you probably laughed. For those of you that didn't, let me explain the joke. Milli Vanilli was a German-French R&B duo from Munich, Germany. The group was founded by Frank Farian in 1988. He recruited 2 members - by the name of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. When Milli Vanilli launched their debut album and single "Girl You Know It's True" in the United States, it was an immediate hit. So much so, the WON the Grammy Award for Best New Artist on February 21, 1990. Ok, so where's the joke?

37:07

Well, the joke is, after having sold millions of records and winning a Grammy - it was discovered that the 2 band members did not sing any of the vocals in any of the music releases. They purely were the face of the band. The public was absolutely outraged. These guys had been lip synching and taking millions of dollars from adoring fans while other people were writing and performing their music. They ended up giving back their Grammy.

37:43

So, Lou Pearlman's model wasn't new. Just scaled for the 1990s and 2000s.

37:55

Also, those in entertainment taking advantage of their position of power to manipulate young stars into contracts that benefit everyone but them is certainly nothing new. Nor is the use of that power to coerce the unwilling into unspeakable acts for opportunities or to avoid being blacklisted. We should all clearly know this happens at this point based on the many, many, many examples of predators that have been brought to light. That is why the guardians and people surrounding those seeking fame need to stay vigilant in protecting them. This should include having lawyers, accountants and managers - and at least one more set of lawyers, accountants and managers to check the other set if you do obtain fame.

38:44

In reflecting upon this story, it saddens me to think of all of the lives that Lou Pearlman harmed in the pursuit of getting rich quickly. He was clearly an intelligent and business savvy man when he wanted to be. What he lacked was an empathy for others and the patience to earn his keep over time. 

39:06

Lou was only interested in quickly gratifying one individual in his life, and that was himself - and he didn't care at what cost to others. If Lou Pearlman would've created the boy bands using legitimate means, he could've possibly had a long and successful career. Instead he died poor, sick, and alone in jail - a disgrace. What a shame.

39:32

Stay diligent dear listeners. And always remember the golden rule. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. 

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Thank you for listening to this episode of Controversial Figures. Just a reminder, please like, subscribe, and leave a rating and comment for Controversial Figures in your favorite podcast app. We have a Twitter page @FiguresPodcast - so please follow us, give us recommendations of Controversial Figures you'd like to hear.

40:11

This podcast is an independent podcast created by Tammy Hawkins. This is funded by those that donate, so please join Patreon and give what you can - once I hit 50 Patreon subscribers, I'll send out swag to all donators! And I'll give shout outs during the show to anyone that's donated. Research references are available in the show notes as are musical references. Thank you so much for listening, thank you so much for your support - be well.