The release of Aaron Carter’s unfinished memoir, blasted as “obscenely disrespectful” and a “heartless” money grab, has been postponed.
Only four days after Carter was found dead in his California home on Nov. 5, Ballast Books announced it would release Aaron Carter: An Incomplete Story of an Incomplete Life on Nov. 15. It said the book is based on three years of recorded conversations between Carter and Ballast Books president Andy Symonds.
Late Saturday, a lawyer representing the company said in a statement that “out of respect for the Carter family, my client has decided to defer the further release of the book at this time.” Scott Atherton said Carter “was not just a celebrity but also a father, a brother, a son, and a friend to many still grieving for him.”
He insisted that Carter “wanted his story told” and wanted Symonds “to tell that story with all its beauty and rawness.” Atherton said readers could learn from Carter’s “professional success, personal struggles, and tragic passing.”
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When the release of the memoir was announced, Symonds said in a statement: “Aaron was a kind, gentle, talented soul not without his demons. He was so excited about telling his story, and I feel I owe it to him to release the parts we did complete.
"Aaron was an open book during the writing process. It’s a tragic irony that his autobiography will never include all his stories, thoughts, hopes, and dreams as he intended.”
Actress-singer Hilary Duff, who dated Carter in the early 2000s, publicly criticized the plan to release the book. “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 media outlets.
“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’s management company, Big Umbrella, agreed. “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,” read a statement from the company.
“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.”
Symonds founded Ballast Books in 2019 as a “hybrid publisher,” meaning authors pay the company to publish their books in exchange for keeping 85 to 100 percent of the royalties. According to its website, Ballast provides services like ghostwriting, marketing and distribution.