Friday 19 August 2022 06:22 PM Aaron Carter says he is five years sober and should no longer be viewed as a ... trends now
Aaron Carter has spoken out against being portrayed as a washed-up drug addict despite turning his life around for the better and marking five years sober.
The former teen heartthrob, 34, revealed his fury about his problematic public image in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, saying he believes his recovery has been ignored and that he should no longer be viewed as a 'train wreck'.
The singer also shared revelations about his complicated relationship with his family, including his older brother, former Backstreet Boys star Nick, 42, and the mother of his young son.
Carter found fame as a child star in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but his transition into adolescence and adulthood saw him fall into a 'huffing' addiction and be hit with a $7.8million tax bill that left him broke.
But the one-time star said he is now in a much better place and is currently making a musical comeback with his tour that is generating 'millions of dollars.'
'I realized that I was killing myself and everything was being destroyed around me from it,' Carter told DailyMail.com.
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Aaron Carter opened up about overcoming drug addiction in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com
The former teen heartthrob, whose older brother is former Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter (left) 42, had a promising career a child before it was derailed by his battles with substance abuse and legal troubles as he transitioned into adulthood
'I was lying to the world and myself. Everybody deserves a second chance. I have not committed any crazy crimes.
'I am not how some people try to paint me. If somebody wants to call me a train wreck, well I've been a train that's been wrecked multiple times and derailed by many different things.
'But I rebuild, get on the tracks and keep going.'
He added that knowing there are 'so many reasons to be here, to live,' keeps him motivated in fighting his addiction.
Carter said he got hooked on 'huffing' and 'dusting', a form of inhalant abuse involving canned aerosol chemicals, which the American Addiction Centers (AAC) say causes 'an immediate rush of euphoria as well as possible hallucinations and delusions.'
Carter admitted his use was so severe he suffered seizures.
AAC experts warn excessive huffing can lead to 'sudden sniffing death' by causing fatal heart failure – even the first time it is tried.
In 2019 Carter appeared on TV series The Doctors where a urine test came back positive for marijuana, 'extended opiates' and benzodiazepine - which he was taking to treat his multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia and acute anxiety.
Today, Carter insists that he has no opiate issues, has quit smoking weed, and is not an excessive alcohol drinker.
The singer has previously revealed his sister Leslie, who died from an overdose in 2012, was the one who introduced him to huffing.
Despite his battles with substance abuse and legal troubles documented in the media over the years, Carter is adamant that he is 'not a victim, but a soldier', and admits he resents his public image as a troubled former star.
Carter first found fame as a teen pop star in the early 2000s, with hits such as 'I want Candy,' and 'Aaron's Party' (Pictured in 1998)
Carter dated several high-profile celebrities at the height of his career, including fellow teen stars Hillary Duff and Lindsay Lohan
Aaron Carter, pictured performing at Larry Flynt's Hustler Club in Las Vegas, Nevada in February, is currently on tour
Carter complained that the public is not interested in his 'success story' or in giving him 'a fair shake', and questioned why singer Demi Lovato's recovery from an overdose has been celebrated, while his success in getting clean is ignored.
'Of course if Demi Lovato accidentally overdoses on opiates, then the next day she is on the cover of Women's Fitness,' he said.
'The media doesn't want to treat me like that. They want to villainize me.
'I am coming up on five years being clean and the media doesn't pay as much attention to it as they should, because I am the living testament to 'you can do it'.
'There is a lot of things I have to change,' he added.
However, Carter admitted that his struggle with trying to rehabilitate his image has only taught him how to block out the hate and criticism.
Carter landed in legal trouble in 2017 when he was arrested for a DUI and possession of marijuana in Clarkesville, Georgia
'I am 35 this year and this is one of the biggest growth learning lessons years I've ever had. I am getting off social media, not paying attention to negativity,' he said.
'If someone truly thinks I am down and out, you don't kick them when you are down.
'I am done letting it happen. I am not going to let the world push me around like that no more.'
Carter, who is enjoying a sold-out nationwide tour, said: 'Even to this day there are questions as to why I was destroying my life.
'I do not have the answers, but the one thing I do have is the ability to survive and the brains and means
