Aaron Carter’s twin sister Angel Carter believes three of her siblings died tragically young from drugs due to ‘family dysfunction’ and fame: ‘There was a lot of chaos going on’
Aaron Carter’s twin sister Angel Carter shared her thoughts on possible factors behind the tragic deaths of three of her siblings.
The 36-year-old reality star acknowledged that both “familial dysfunction” and fame played a role in the deaths, which were linked to substance abuse, during a candid conversation with Gayle King on CBS Mornings on Wednesday.
Leslie died in 2012 at age 25 from an overdose, Aaron died in 2022 at age 34 from drowning attributed to the effects of Xanax, and difluoroethane inhalation, and Bobbi Jean died in 2023 at age 41 from ‘intoxication due to the combined effects’. of fentanyl and methamphetamine.”
“There’s definitely a generational problem here,” Angel said of their deaths. “But as far as growing up, there was a time when we were a very close family… there was a lot of love.
“But at the same time there was a lot of chaos,” she added.
Aaron Carter’s twin sister Angel Carter shared her thoughts on the possible factors behind the untimely deaths of three of her siblings; Engel and Aaron in 2006
Bobbie Jean, like her brother Aaron and sister Leslie, struggled with substance abuse. Leslie died of a drug overdose in 2012 at the age of 25. Leslie (center) died of a drug overdose in 2012 at the age of 25. Aaron died of an accidental drowning from his drug use in November 2022 (pictured in 2006)
“Just fighting,” she continued. ‘My parents were fighting all the time. Just a disturbance in the house. No limits. No stability. No one to talk to. It just felt like if I had a problem, I really couldn’t have my parents to lean on.”
When asked if fame exacerbated family problems, Angel replied: “Yes, I do.”
Angel’s brother Nick Carter rose to superstardom as a member of the Backstreet Boys, while Aaron’s career skyrocketed with 2000’s chart-topping hit I Want Candy.
“I think it changed everything, honestly,” Angel added. “Nick has been in Backstreet Boys since I was four or five years old. So really long.
‘We were a family without money. We came from upstate New York. My parents were poor. And they had never seen anything like it before. So once the money came in, the dynamic just changed because money became the driving force.”
Angel also confided to Gayle that for years she had held on to the hope that Aaron would find his way to recovery, although she admitted that she ultimately lost all hope during his final days.
She shared her decision to dismantle this pattern with her own child, aiming to give them a sense of innocence that eluded Aaron all his life.
“Aaron didn’t have his innocence,” she explained. ‘From an early age he worked like an adult. And he just wanted to be home.”
“There’s definitely a generational problem here,” Angel said of their deaths. ‘But as far as growing up, there was a time when we were a very close family… there was a lot of love’; seen in 2006
When asked if fame made family problems worse, Angel replied: ‘Yes, I do’; (Bobbie Jean pictured 2006)
Angel’s heartfelt interview comes four months after first responders found Bobbie Jean unconscious in the bathroom of her Tampa, Florida, home on the morning of December 23 and rushed her to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Bobbie Jean – who was the mother of a daughter, Bella, aged eight – was on probation for cocaine possession when she died, according to police – but her roommates told them she had not used narcotics since her release.
Her official cause of death is intoxication from the combined effects of fentanyl and methamphetamine according to the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner in Florida.
Her death is ruled an accident.
According to the medical examiner’s report, Bobbie’s roommate last had contact with her on December 23 at 6:30 a.m., but around 7 a.m. the roommate found Bobbie unconscious on the bathroom floor and called 911.
First responders attempted life-saving measures on Bobbie before she was transported to a hospital in Tampa, where she was pronounced dead at 8:02 a.m..
Overdose deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl rose from nearly 10,000 in 2015 to nearly 20,000 in 2016, surpassing regular opioid painkillers and heroin for the first time.
The ultra-strong opioid that was cut with virtually every street drug in the country killed a record 75,000 Americans in 2021, the equivalent of 1,500 lives lost every week.
Because it is in other popular medications, many people who die from an overdose do not know they are taking fentanyl. Fentanyl is partly blamed for the sharp decline in life expectancy in America over the past three years.
Aaron’s death was attributed to drowning after inhaling compressed difluoroethane, also known as wheezing, and ingesting alprazolam, which is sold under the brand name Xanax.
The Carter family is rocked by the untimely deaths of their three siblings in just eleven years (BJ, Leslie and Aaron are pictured in 2006)
Bobbie Jean was buried last month in a town outside Tampa in a “small, private ceremony” attended by family and friends.
Nick broke his silence on Bobbie Jean’s death, writing that he is “absolutely heartbroken” in an emotional tribute on Instagram.
“It may take a lifetime to fully process the loss my family has suffered over the years – most recently, with the sudden passing of our sister Bobbie Jean,” the Backstreet Boys star wrote on Thursday.
In June, Bobbie Jean was arrested on shoplifting charges over an incident at Hobby Lobby and was placed on suicide watch after threatening to commit suicide. Investigators discovered she was in possession of fentanyl at the time
He also shared a vintage throwback photo of himself and Bobbie Jean playing as kids.
Nick’s post followed news that Bobbie Jean’s daughter Bella, eight, is in the care of her grandmother, Schneck, 64.
In a statement to TMZ the grieving mother opened up about her devastating loss.
“I am shocked by the sudden death of my daughter, Bobbie Jean; and I will need time to process the terrible reality of this happening for the third time,” she began.
“If I can think clearly, I will make a fuller statement; but until then I would ask to be allowed to grieve in private.”
She added: ‘No matter how deeply a parent feels the loss of a child, the suffering of a young child at the loss of a parent must be far greater.’
“So I would like to ask the sympathizer to say a prayer for my precious eight-year-old granddaughter Bella, who previously lost her father and is now also left without her mother.”
Fans may know Bobbie Jean from her appearance on the reality show House of Carters, which aired in 2006.
She, like her late brother Aaron and late sister Leslie, struggled with substance abuse.
Aaron died from an accidental drowning at his home in Lancaster, California, caused after inhaling difluoroethane and ingesting alprazolam, the generic form of the brand name Xanax. He was 34.