According to a close friend, Aaron Carter “distanced himself” from everyone prior to his tragic death.
Erik-Michael Estrada, vocalist from the boyband O-Town, spoke to David Yontef during the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast on Wednesday and explained his and Aaron’s relationship. According to the All or Nothing singer, he and the 34-year-old grew really close over the years. They both rose to fame around the same time and were even managed by the same company.
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Sadly, the pair’s relationship dwindled because Aaron was “gone for quite some time” mentally:
“The sad part is with Aaron is that he had been gone for quite some time, right? Like, even though he was still here, he wasn’t.”
Erik-Michael told David that the Aaron’s Party singer had pushed everyone away by the time of his passing:
“He had distanced himself from everyone, and he made it very clear that he didn’t want anything to do with a lot of people who really cared about him.”
So sad…
The 43-year-old described how his friend’s “issues” caused turmoil in all of his relationships:
“But he had demons, and he had issues that he was dealing with, and maybe some trauma, and obviously some mental illness. And when you meet someone like that … there were moments where you felt really distant from him. And those were sad.”
During a hard time in Carter’s life, the Liquid Dreams singer recalls reaching out to try and help to no avail:
“I remember having a conversation with him in a bathroom stall … and I’m like, ‘Dude, your talent is so much better than the tweets that you’re putting out, and I just want people to appreciate you for your talent and not these tweets’. And I could just see the distance in his eyes. I wasn’t really talking to the same guy that I had been talking to the week prior, you know, when we were at a couple of shows before.”
Just heartbreaking. And all this turbulence in their relationship left Estrada feeling hopeless:
“There’s these moments that are just distant, and there’s no answer to it. Like, there’s nothing I can do other than just be supportive.”
And Erik-Michael has already made plans to continue that support — next month himself, Aaron’s twin sister Angel, and older brother Nick Carter are going to be taking the stage at next month’s Songs For Tomorrow benefit concert:
“I’m gonna do anything that I can to help bring awareness to mental illness.”
We continue to send love and light to Aaron’s family, friends, and loved ones.
[Image via Instagram/Aaron Carter/MEGA/WENN]
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