Nick and Aaron Carter's Friend Reveals How Mom Jane Tried to 'Divide' Her Sons After Leslie's Death: 'He Doesn't Love You'
Nick and Aaron Carter's difficult relationship is covered in the docuseries 'Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter'
A Carter family friend and cousin allege that matriarch Jane purposely drove a wedge between her two sons
Docuseries Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter continues Tuesday night
"[The kids were] victims of bad parenting, of poor choices, of neglect," the cousin says. “The damage was irrevocable"
Nick Carter and Aaron Carter’s sibling relationship was filled with ups and downs — and according to family friends, many of the downs were spurred on by their mother Jane.
In the new Investigation Discovery docuseries Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter, a Carter family friend and cousin allege that Jane Schneck purposely drove a wedge between her two sons, especially after the drug overdose death of their sister Leslie in 2012.
“Jane blamed Nick for Leslie’s death. She told Nick that he should’ve been there for her. He had the money, why didn’t he do something?” cousin John Spaulding, whose father is Jane’s brother, says in the docuseries. “I don’t think it was Nick’s responsibility. But I think Aaron took what his mom was saying to heart and I think that damaged their relationship. I think that was her goal, I think she was trying to do that.”
Schneck declined to comment on the series.
Related: The Carter Family: All About Nick and Aaron Carter’s Parents and Siblings
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Bobbie Jean Carter, Leslie Carter, Nick Carter, Angel Carter, Aaron Carter in Pasadena in July 2006A family friend named Jen also appears in the series, and recalls the harsh words Jane said to Aaron upon learning that Nick would not be attending Leslie’s funeral.
“Once Aaron found out that Nick wasn’t coming to Leslie’s funeral, the first thing that Jane did was tell Aaron, ‘He doesn’t love you. See? He doesn’t love you,’” Jen recalls. “And that’s not the truth. But Aaron became very upset and aggressive… I don’t understand why a parent would push so hard to divide two brothers.”
In 2013, Nick Carter, 44, appeared on Dr. Phil, where he said that his family blamed him for Leslie’s death, and that he felt guilt over the situation.
Nick had removed his parents Jane and Bob (who divorced in 2003, 14 years before Bob’s death) as his managers when he turned 18 — something Jen suggests sparked some “bitterness” from the family matriarch. In response, Jen says, Jane turned her focus to Aaron, putting additional pressure on the teen.
“Jane was in Aaron’s ear all the time. Anytime Aaron didn’t want to do anything, ‘What, do you think Nick takes a break?’ And I even heard Bob say to Aaron one time, ‘You’re never going to be as good as your brother,’” she recalls. “It ended up being a massive chip on Aaron’s shoulder. Nick had no idea.”
In the later years, around the time Aaron died in November 2022, Jen says Jane continued “to pit Nick against Aaron on Facebook, even after death. That’s how it works with her.”
"[The Carter kids were] victims of bad parenting, of poor choices, of neglect," says Spaulding. “The damage was irrevocable.”
In 2023, Aaron’s twin sister Angel Carter spoke to PEOPLE about how months after Aaron’s death, their mother released photos of Aaron’s death scene on Facebook, insisting that her son had been receiving death threats and accusing authorities of dismissing her suspicions a month before officials ruled his death a result of drowning due to ingesting drugs and inhaling gas.
“It was a true invasion of privacy and something that Aaron would’ve never wanted the public to see,” said Angel, who at the time hadn’t spoken to her mother since. “Aaron dying was the worst possible outcome for all of us. My brother deserves to be here.”
Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter premieres across two nights on Monday, May 27 and Tuesday, May 28 from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT on ID and streaming on Max.
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