What Aaron Carter's Relationship With His Brother Nick Was Like Before His Death

After years of publicized personal struggles, musician Aaron Carter has died at the age of 34. For those who grew up in the early 2000s, Carter was an icon. His music, arguably cheesy, was wildly popular — with his album "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)" charting at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and getting certified triple platinum. Carter's personal life was also a huge curiosity of fans, with his dating history including Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff.

Additionally, not only was Carter famous, but his older Brother Nick was part of the mega popular boy band, Backstreet Boys. As a result, the two often appeared together for promotional events and concerts. Notably, Nick appeared on the track "Oh Aaron" from Carter's album of the same name. Because of their combined fame, the Carter family appeared in their own reality television series "House of Carters." Lasting for less than a year in 2006, the show also featured their sisters: Leslie, Bobbie Jean, and Angel, who is Aaron's twin. Carter and his siblings all moved in together in an attempt to heal the trauma from their parents' divorce. 

If their public personas were to be believed, the brothers shared a complicated-yet-loving relationship. However, the reality of their sibling bond was wildly different. After his career took a downturn in his adulthood, Carter began to struggle with addiction and mental health issues, which drove a wedge between him and his family.

Aaron and Nick Carter were not on speaking terms

Though they used to be inseparable — at least publicly – Aaron and Nick Carter stopped speaking years before the former's untimely death. The younger brother found himself in a downward spiral, from filing for bankruptcy years ago to his well-documented substance abuse problems. He harbored a lot of resentment for his brother and sisters, and he blamed himself for his sister Leslie Carter's passing in 2012 (via Yahoo!). In 2019, his behavior escalated to the extent that both Nick and Angel Carter elected to file a restraining order.

"In light of Aaron's increasingly alarming behavior and his recent confession that he harbors thoughts and intentions of killing my pregnant wife and unborn child, we were left with no choice but to take every measure possible to protect ourselves and our family," Nick tweeted. He then added that he loved Aaron and hoped he got the help he needed. In response, Aaron said that he and Nick had not seen each other in four years with no intention of changing that. However, he also levied accusations that Nick sexually assaulted a woman after another restraining order restricted his access to firearms (via E! News).

Since then, the brothers never publicly reconciled. Things looked a little more positive when Aaron congratulated Nick on the birth of his child (via Metro).  However, Aaron later accused his siblings of attempting to put him under a conservatorship, to which they responded: "No one has any idea where Aaron is getting this from" (via E! News).