Aaron Carter: The Little Prince Of Pop dropped on Hulu on May 1, and featured interviews with those who were around Aaron Carter before his death in Nov. 2022. One of the interviewees was Melanie Martin, Aaron’s fiancee. Aaron and Melanie had a tumultuous relationship, but they had a son, Prince, together just about one year before Aaron died. In September 2022, Melanie’s mother got temporary custody of Prince amidst some of Aaron and Melanie’s issues. Melanie said that this was a catalyst for Aaron’s troubling behavior and relapse before his death.
“At the end of ’22 his mental health was not all there,” Melanie admitted. “Aaron and I did lose custody of Prince. I think that the real downfall was him losing custody and not knowing what was going to happen. Basically, Aaron had a manic episode. We had a heated fight and it was lingering on for a few days. The uncertainty of what was going to happen…there was too much going on for him. Trying to rebuild his career, our relationship, he was thinking about family all the time. It was a lot for one person to handle, let alone someone who says they have mental health issues.”
In September 2022, Aaron worried those around him when he appeared to be huffing during a live video online. He insisted to Melanie, as well as his manager, that the video was fake. At that time, Melanie wasn’t home, and she called a welfare check on Aaron. “I kept pressing the issue, and eventually he owned that [it was real],” Aaron’s manager added. At that point, Aaron’s team reached out to an addiction counselor to try and get him help.
“Aaron was doing an outpatient program, but that wasn’t cutting it,” his manager explained. “We were trying to find him some help and get him back on the wagon. We’re talking the real deal. He was terrified to do it. His excuse was, ‘I’ll do it, but I need to get my son back first.’ And my argument to him was, ‘I think the other way around would probably be the best way to go.’ He didn’t want to hear that. He was stuck in a very deep, long addiction that he battled his whole life. By the time he realized he needed to beat the monster, I think he realized the monster was a little too big.”
Aaron was found dead in his bathtub on Nov. 5, 2022. On April 18, his cause of death was confirmed as accidental drowning and the effects of huffing and taking Xanax. “He became incapacitated while in the bathtub due to the effects” of the drugs, which led to his drowning, according to the autopsy.
“I was actually in shock,” Melanie said, of finding out about Aaron’s death. “I didn’t even know until everyone told me like, ‘You were in another world.’ I want Aaron to be remembered as the funny, smart, caring and forgiving human that he was to a lot of people.” Melanie regained custody of Prince in December 2022.