Chris Kirkpatrick Says Lou Pearlman 'Got What He Deserved' After 'Only 5 People' Attended Late Manager's Funeral
Details about the death of the disgraced star-maker are explored in Netflix’s 'Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam' documentary
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Chris Kirkpatrick; Lou PearlmanNetflix’s Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam documentary is revisiting details surrounding Lou Pearlman’s death.
The disgraced talent manager, best known for forming famous music groups like *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, died in August 2016 while serving his 25-year sentence for money laundering at a Miami prison. He was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and more crimes after authorities discovered he stole more than $300 million from investors through one of the largest and longest-running Ponzi schemes in U.S. history — much of which is explored in the final episode of Netflix’s three-part docuseries, which premiered on Wednesday, July 24.
The first half of the series focuses on how Pearlman created and funded his old boy bands while taking a large portion of their profits as a “sixth member,” per their recording contracts. According to Billboard, he was eventually sued by nearly every single act — including *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys in the late ‘90s — after building a business empire on fraud.
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Lou Pearlman during opening night of Chippendales at The Rio in Las VegasThe end of Dirty Pop recounts how Pearlman spent his final years behind bars for his crimes before ultimately dying of cardiac arrest at age 62. The documentary also reveals what happened after his death was reported, including how apparently no one attempted to claim his body from the Florida morgue.
“I remember calling the coroner a couple days later, and he was like, ‘Man, I was starting to wonder what to do with his body ‘cause nobody has contacted me,’” Michael Johnson, a former member of Y2K boy band Natural (which Pearlman also formed), recalls.
As the singer, 41, notes, it was a “roller coaster circus” trying to find someone who could claim Pearlman’s body. Ultimately, the talent manager ended up being buried in a family plot in New York without a tombstone. According to the doc, “only five people” went to his funeral. To this day, there’s no stone that marks where he’s buried in the cemetery.
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From left: O-Town's Ashley Parker Angel, Dan Miller, Lou Pearlman, Trevor Penick, Erik-Michael Estrada and Jacob UnderwoodAt the time of Pearlman’s death, some members of his former groups offered their condolences on social media, including Justin Timberlake, who wrote on (X formerly Twitter), “I hope he found some peace. God bless and RIP, Lou Pearlman.” Others, however, weren’t so sympathetic.
“I think we should remember Lou as a crook who got what he deserved in the end,” *NSYNC’s Chris Kirkpatrick, 52, says frankly in the Netflix doc, “and there are people that are still in pain and hurting because of his actions.”
“My feelings on Lou Pearlman create quite a duality,” Erik-Michael Estrada, 44, a member of Pearlman’s old boy band O-Town, adds. “How do I feel this way about this one individual that really took a lot from a lot of people, but also gave so much to millions all over the world, still to this day?”
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