Lou Pearlman is best known for launching boy bands like NSYNC and Backstreet Boys. But he is also known for running one of the oldest Ponzi schemes in US history.
Dirty Popa new documentary series produced by TIME Studios, traces Pearlman’s rise and fall in three episodes, featuring perspectives from the music mogul’s former employees and boy band members he mentored.
The series, which drops July 24 on Netflix, also explores why Pearlman was so into boy bands. Many people interviewed say that his interest was not harmful. Pealrman just desperately wanted to be one of the cool kids, always trying to overcome his past as an overweight kid whose nickname was “Fat Boy” growing up.
“He was a child in an adult body,” Michael Johnson, a member of the boy band Natural and one of Pearlman’s protégés, tells TIME.
Who was Lou Pearlman?
Pearlman began his career in the aviation industry. A cousin of Art Garfunkel, he always wanted to be in the music industry and worked to manage dozens of boy bands. He was able to maintain his influence through a persuasive personality. Johnson calls him “the greatest showman.”
“He could make something seem like it was a success when it wasn’t, make you believe that if you don’t take part in his next project, you’ll look like the biggest idiot on the planet,” he says.
To quote the Backstreet Boys hit “Larger than Life,” that’s what Pearlman was. He lived luxuriously in Orlando, Florida, and ensured that the band members he managed flew in private jets while on tour. Johnson says he often dined with world leaders when he traveled with Pearlman. He explains that this type of treatment was not the norm.
“Normally a record company isn’t willing to spend five to 10 million dollars on a band that’s never played a show before, but he did it – because it wasn’t his own money,” he says. “It was basically stolen money. So he was able to put resources into these bands that no other label would be able to do.”
Perhaps the most obvious sign of Pearlman’s influence was his ability to get Johnson’s boy band Natural on a plane shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when most planes were supposed to be grounded. The group was doing a photo shoot in New York. Pearlman made a satellite call. On September 12th, they were on a private plane returning to their headquarters in Orlando.
Tracing Lou Pearlman’s downfall
Pearlman’s eye for talent was real – as shown by the success of NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys – but his business was a fraud. The documentary shows that he was using boy bands to charm investors and lure them into his Ponzi scheme.
After Johnson’s band Natural broke up in 2004, he became interested in the business side of the entertainment industry and worked with Pearlman on what he thought were TV projects. They traveled across Southeast Asia to attract investors. The projects went nowhere, but Pearlman didn’t want to go home.
“It turns out our world travels were actually him running from the FBI,” Johnson says.
During a brief stay in Bali in the spring of 2007, Johnson said Pearlman opened up to him about how he was forging documents. Johnson returned home, and in June 2007, Pearlman was arrested.
Of the approximately $500 million that Lou Pearlman stole, only about $10 million was recovered. In 2008, he was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He died behind bars in 2016 after a heart attack.
Johnson continued to perform with various groups for years after Pearlman’s arrest. Today he works more off stage as a composer and film producer. He describes the impact of Pearlman’s deception on him and other members of the boy band: “Psychologically, we’re still dealing with these trust issues.”
Social media and platforms that allow artists to reach consumers have given artists more control over their businesses. In terms of advice for emerging artists who want to make sure they don’t end up working with someone like Pearlman, Johnson says to “have an amazing lawyer.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
