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There’s a lot about The Boy Band Con, available now on YouTube Premium, that is pretty gross. The documentary tells the story of super schemer Lou Pearlman, the guy that created and then stole from your favorite boy bands, which was only a fraction of the lies, deceit, and illegal activity he engaged in over the course of his life. But there was one revelation from this documentary that gave me chills that have yet to go away.
After the doc addresses those swirling rumors of Pearlman being inappropriate with (often underage) male members of the boy bands he created, actress and singer Nikki DeLoach, once part of girl group Innosense states, “I never witnessed anything happening with him and young boys,” and then adds, “I heard a lot of stories.” But perhaps it is her own story that is the most upsetting.
“He had his tanning bed in his house. I didn’t know this at the time but, you know, you take your clothes off to get into the tanning bed. He was recording the whole thing so he would show all the boys the video of us girls getting naked and getting into the tanning bed. That felt pretty darn violating,” she says, and the anger is visible throughout her statement.
Tim Christofore, a member of the group Take 5 backs up her claim, explaining, “He would always say, ‘Oh yeah, the Innosense girls come over here and tan all the time and you can see right in there from here’, stuff like that. ‘Oh yeah, I got every channel that you could ever imagine here, even the porn channels if you want.’ It all comes back to wanting to impress everybody and make them feel like you go over to Lou’s and you can do whatever you want.”
DeLoach continued to say, “100% that was a way for him to be one of the cool kids and to also in a way earn their trust.” She has gone on to maintain a successful acting career, popping up in shows including, MTV’s Awkward, Mad Men, Castle, and Grey’s Anatomy, but it’s clear from her brief time in this doc just how rattling that experience was for her.
The Boy Band Con details the creepy camera setup in his house (which Pearlman could control from his bedroom, yuck), amongst many other details that will leave you frustrated, sad, and ultimately relieved that Pearlman was eventually caught and held accountable for his unforgivable actions.
