Aaron Carter, who has had very public struggles with his physical and mental health, is lashing out this week at PETA.
The animal rights organization called out the singer Thursday over an Instagram livestream in which Carter’s mother Jane is seen slapping a dog inside a vehicle.
“Have a heart,” PETA tweeted at Carter. “Dogs are family – not for IG likes. SLAPPING them or SELLING THEM for a profit when millions are homeless in shelters is cruelty.”
Have a heart, @aaroncarter
— PETA (@peta) November 15, 2019
Dogs are family – not for IG likes. SLAPPING them or SELLING THEM for a profit when millions are homeless in shelters is cruelty. pic.twitter.com/wg0x2sR2Fe
Carter responded: "PETA You f**king kill animals your true colors are going to be exposed and you’re not going to silence me f**k you.”
In another tweet, the 31-year-old singer accused PETA of killing “up to 97 percent of the dogs and cats in its ‘animal shelter.’”
Carter warned: “You have a lawsuit coming your way!! I’m way to (sic) powerful.” It’s not clear what legal case he believes he can make.
Early Friday, Carter tweeted: “You don’t realize how powerful I am. And everyone is going down.”
The Twitter tirade comes only a day after Carter’s mother allegedly tweeted that she was taking over his social media accounts while he was being treated in hospital. “I’m handlin (sic) socials for my son till he recoverers,” read a tweet on Thursday.
On Instagram, a photo of Carter in a Florida hospital bed was captioned: “Mommas (sic) gonna take care of you.” According to TMZ, Carter was admitted to hospital weighing only 115 pounds.
According to his website, Carter has a string of shows scheduled in the U.S. between Dec. 3 and 10.
Carter was a young boy when he had success with his self-titled debut album and follow-up Aaron’s Party (Come Get It). He shot the video for his catchy cover of the 1965 song "I Want Candy" in Toronto nearly 20 years ago.
In recent years, he has been arrested for DUI, come out as bisexual and has come clean about his history of eating disorders, substance abuse and mental illness.
On episodes of The Doctors that aired in September, Carter revealed that he has been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, acute anxiety and manic depression – and listed six medications he has been prescribed. He also admitted to years of “huffing.”
On social media, Carter has simultaneously called for people to respect his privacy while drumming up publicity for himself by sharing details of personal conflicts and making demonstrably false claims.
Carter’s siblings Angel and Nick Carter (of the Backstreet Boys) filed a restraining order against him in September after he allegedly threatened to kill Nick’s then-pregnant wife. Aaron then went public with claims of physical abuse by Nick and sexual abuse by their late sister Leslie Carter.
In September, Carter tweeted that he was canceling the remainder of his shows this year to focus on his health – but less than 24 hours later he claimed his comment was “misconstrued.”
In October, Carter deluged his social media accounts with lies while in Nova Scotia for a performance at a Halifax club.
He tweeted a photo supposedly from inside Halifax airport in which he is wearing orange sweatpants, and captioned it “they literally got me held up at customs wow.
“I’ll get out but seriously y’all gotta put me in a f**king orange jail suit and take all my jewelry away … Can’t take my phone though lol.” (Canada Border Services Agency does not put arriving passengers in an “orange jail suit” during screening and it can, in fact, take phones.)
Carter later claimed he was staying “high on a mountain in Halifax in a [Motel 6]” – when, in fact, he was at a Comfort Inn in Yarmouth (there is no Motel 6 in Nova Scotia).
After declaring that he was moving to Canada, he claimed to have bought the private Kaulbach Island, about 70 km from Halifax, for $7 million. “I put $1.5 million down to get away from the drama and make my music,” he tweeted. “Good luck finding me. These waters get cold.” But, a rep for realtor Mariana Cowan laughed when iHeartRadio.ca asked if Carter bought the property. "It's still for sale," she said. (A home shown in the photo Carter shared on Twitter is not on the island.)
Carter then claimed to have purchased a $629,900 home in Yarmouth in an Instagram post where he is pictured standing in front of the home with local realtor Mike Randall. At the time, Randall declined to comment. The property is currently still on the market.
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