The docuseries Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam debuted on Netflix earlier this month. It chronicles the rise and fall of disgraced American talent manager Lou Pearlman. He was behind some of the biggest boy bands of the '90s, including Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, O-Town and more. He also orchestrated one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. The Netflix docuseries delves into Pearlman's shocking crimes.
10 Shocking Revelations in Dirty Pop: The Boyband Scam
According to People Magazine, several lawsuits were filed against Pearlman by the music groups he managed in the late 1990s, Forbes reported. The Backstreet Boys sued Pearlman in 1998, claiming that Pearlman was making $10 million, while the band had only been paid $300,000 since 1993. He was then fired as the band's manager. The following year, *NSYNC also filed a lawsuit against Pearlman. It resulted in the members of *NSYNC being granted the right to use their name, since Pearlman was fired as the band's manager.
In addition to legal issues, Pearlman was also sued by the attorney who represented him in the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC cases, Forbes reported. Cheney Mason claimed the talent manager owed him millions for his services, but Mason insisted he didn't have the money. Pearlman was subsequently ordered to pay $15 million to his ex-lawyers.
According to ABC News, investigators discovered Pearlman's long-running pyramid scheme in 2006. The talent manager used the success of the bands to lure investors into investing money in his other companies. Pearlman claimed that the companies were part of his company, TransContinental. He even launched an investment plan for the investors. Pearlman promised them significant returns because he assured them it was a safe investment. He claimed that the scheme was FDIC-insured and that insurance companies AIG and Lloyd's of London were backing it, leading the FBI to suspect it was fraud.
