Hilary Duff is slamming Ballast Books for its plans to release Aaron Carter’s unfinished memoir in the wake of his death. “It’s really sad that within a week of Aaron’s death, there’s a publisher that seems to be recklessly pushing a book out to capitalize on this tragedy without taking appropriate time or care to fact check the validity of his work,” Duff said in a statement to POPSUGAR. “To water down Aaron’s life story to what seems to be unverified click-bait for profit is disgusting. In no way do I condone shedding any light on what is so obviously an uninformed, heartless, money grab.”
Carter was found dead in his home in Lancaster, CA, on Nov. 5. He was 34 years old. Following his death, the book publisher revealed it would be moving forward with the memoir, titled “Aaron Carter: An Incomplete Story of an Incomplete Life,” even though it wasn’t finished.
Alongside a photo of author Andy Symonds and the late singer, Ballast Books wrote on Instagram on Nov. 6: “Aaron Carter was a kind, gentle, talented soul not without his demons. He was so excited about telling his story, and we worked many hours on his book. Sadly, we’ll never have a chance to finish it. I feel I owe it to him to release the parts we did complete during sporadic work over 3 + years. This photo was taken the day of our first interview, when I spent a good eight hours with him on his couch talking about everything from child stardom to Michael Jackson while he smoked weed nonstop. Rest In Peace my dude.”
While reps for Ballast Books and Carter’s management company, Big Umbrella Management, did not immediately respond to POPSUGAR’s request for comment, Big Umbrella Management thanked Duff for speaking out in a statement shared with the New York Post on Nov. 10. “We as Aaron’s management would like to thank Hilary Duff for her statement regarding the book that is set to be released,” Big Umbrella Management’s Taylor Helgeson told the publication.
“In the few short days following our dear friend’s passing we have been trying to grieve and process while simultaneously having to deal with obscenely disrespectful and unauthorized releases, including an album titled ‘Blacklisted,’ a single titled ‘Lately,’ and now a book.”
Helgeson continued: “This is a time for mourning and reflection not heartless money grabs and attention seeking. We would ask the parties responsible to remove the aforementioned content and that no further content be released without approval from his family, friends, and associates.”
Duff famously dated Carter in the 2000s, when they were both only 13 years old. In an Instagram tribute to him on Nov. 6, Duff wrote, “For Aaron – I’m deeply sorry that life was so hard for you and that you had to struggle in-front of the whole world. You had a charm that was absolutely effervescent . . . boy did my teenage self love you deeply. Sending love to your family at this time. Rest easy.”
