*NSYNC's Lance Bass recalls his reaction to former manager Lou Pearlman's death: 'It pissed me off that he passed away'
Former *NSYNC member, Lance Bass sat down with ABC's '20/20' program titled 'The Hitman: From Pop to Prison' and opened up about the band's former manager, Lou Pearlman, for the documentary about the late con artist.
Pearlman, who was responsible for helping create the 90s boybands Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2008 for his Ponzi schemes and money laundering. He admitted to swindling investors and banks out of millions for his TransContinental empire. Pearlman died in prison of a cardiac arrest in 2016.
The 20/20 special features interviews with Bass and fellow *NSYNC member, Chris Kirkpatrick, as well as O-Town's Jacob Underwood, Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, and Dan Miller. The singers opened up about Pearlman on the professional and personal front.
In the special, Bass recalls hearing about Pearlman's death in 2016 and feeling confused, saying, "I was like, ‘How could you die right now when we don't have this closure? You need to apologize! Like, there are so many people who are waiting for you to realize what you did.' And it pissed me off that he passed away."
Bass continues, "You feel happy that no one else is going to be affected by him, and then you feel guilty because you feel that way. You loved him, you hated him, there are so many things that come out with Lou Pearlman." However, once the singer processed all the emotions, he said he felt the story had ended and that "we can all start healing".
The singer also opened up about how Pearlman took advantage of the boys' trust and their professions, and Bass said, "I was in the biggest band in the world and selling millions of records…but I can't even afford my apartment in Orlando. I couldn't even get a car." Kirkpatrick said, "When I found out about the Ponzi scheme, my heart broke and was basically ripped out because now I realized he was a conman."
When the Backstreet Boys signed up with Jive Records, Pearlman pressured them to sign a contract that was heavily weighted in his favor. In addition to being their manager, Pearlman made himself the sixth member of the band, meaning that he would reap additional financial rewards -- a practice he followed with *NSYNC as well.
Using the success of both the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, Pearlman lured new talent and also enticed people to invest in his TransContinental empire, which he claimed included the record label, an airline, a film and music studio, talent and travel agencies as well as restaurants and real estate.
When the attorneys for the members of *NSYNC found a small loophole, the band switched to Jive Records after being told by member JC Chasez's uncle that the band's contract with Pearlman was "the worst contract I've ever read in my entire life."
After their attorneys found a small loophole in their contract with Pearlman's label TransContinential Records, *NSYNC jumped to Jive Records, the same record label as Backstreet Boys. As a result of this, Pearlman hit the band with a $150 million breach-of-contract lawsuit to stop the move and them performing or recording using the name *NSYNC. In 1998, the Backstreet Boys sued the then-manager claiming that they had only received $300,000 since 1993 while Pearlman had made $10 million.
Both bands reached settlements with Pearlman, with *NSYNC reserving the right to control their name -- however, both the settlements led to Pearlman being ousted as the manager for both bands.