Bruce Willis’s daughter Scout has detailed her childhood “obsession” with singer-rapper Aaron Carter in a new documentary about the late pop star’s life.
Premiering on Paramount+ on Tuesday, The Carters: Hurts to Love You follows the pop star, who died in November 2022 at age 34, and his older brother Nick of Backstreet Boys fame through their ascent to stardom. The documentary also sheds light on the Carter family’s history of mental illness and addiction struggles.
Scout, 33, recalled being about 10 years old when she became “absolutely bats*** obsessed” with Aaron. She remembered praying for a chance to meet the young singer, begging, “Please just let this happen for me.”
On her 12th birthday, while in Disney World with her family, her wish came true.
“From inside of me erupts the most insane fangirl piercing 12-year-old scream you can possibly imagine,” Scout recalled of the moment she realized Aaron was walking towards her. Her famous father had asked the pop star to attend Scout’s birthday party.
He was the “sweetest, most beautiful, gracious boy I have ever met,” she said of Aaron, who was just a few years older than her.
But Scout did notice an oddity about the situation. Aaron wasn’t with his parents or accompanied by any adults. “It’s just him,” she said.
Scout recalled speaking with Aaron and how he jokingly called her his “wife” and talked about getting married. He was enjoying himself so much that he decided to stay for the whole weekend and experience Disney with the Willis family.
“It was so rare for him to get to hang out with kids his own age and not be working, and it was something that I only realized years later how rare of a moment it was for him to get to just play and be silly and have fun with us,” she said.
In 2013, when Scout was attending Brown University in Rhode Island, Aaron was touring through the area. She went to see the show and sent a message to Aaron’s manager in hopes of reconnecting with him. Scout was stunned when the manager came out and ushered her and her friend back to see her old friend.
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“It’s like all of these feelings are flooding and I cannot believe the situation I’m in,” Scout recalled of that moment.
During the performance, Aaron called Scout up on stage. “He sits down, pulls me onto his lap, is serenading me,” she said. “I could have died in that exact moment.” Then he kissed her onstage.
After the show, Scout said Aaron texted her, asking her to be his girlfriend, but she brushed it off since he was on tour.
“Obviously it was not what he wanted to hear and maybe bruised his ego a bit,” Scout said. “We didn’t really talk again after that.”
Looking back at the situation, an emotional Scout said Aaron was “someone who, I think, was probably so lonely, and so much longing for real love.”
The Carters: Hurts to Love You premieres April 15 on Paramount+.
