Paramount’s documentary about the Carter family offers an intimate look into their ups and downs over the years, which wasn’t always easy for Angel Carter Conrad to watch.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly about The Carters: Hurts to Love You, Angel, 37, admitted it was “definitely a mix” of emotions, adding, “There were so many happy times within my family and certainly with my siblings and myself. So being able to look back on [home] videos, it’s not only a memory, but it’s a feeling that you can tap back into.”
While not always easy to watch, Angel found it “incredibly cool” to use archival footage to shine a light on her and her siblings’ upbringing. Still, she explained to Us that “there were moments where it was painful” to watch what her sisters Leslie Carter and Bobbie Jean Carter “went through.”
“It gave me a better understanding of the abuse and what they went through and why certain things happened,” she noted. “So that was hard. It was painful to watch. What you didn’t see in the documentary is when I was watching those tough videos — the aftermath of the emotional breakdown that I had because it just brought a lot of clarity for me.”
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Directed by former child star Soleil Moon Frye, The Carters: Hurts to Love You highlights Nick Carter, Aaron Carter, Angel, Leslie and Bobbie Jean’s difficult upbringings. Nick and Aaron’s rise to stardom — and the toll it took on them and their siblings — is the backdrop for a documentary that attempts to destigmatize mental health and addiction.
“It had to be the truth. It had to be authentic. It had to be honest. And the honest truth is that there [were] a lot of bad things that had happened to us as kids — and there were bad things that happened to my parents. There’s a generational component to this where patterns and behaviors were repeated within the family,” Angel explained to Us. “I don’t have any ill will towards my parents. What’s done is done. It’s about what we can do now moving forward. I just want people to know that you’re not alone, that we all have our struggles and that even though my family had fame and money, we are just like you and we are in this together.”
Before the release of the doc, which starts streaming on Tuesday, April 15, Angel’s twin brother Aaron died at age 34 in November 2022. Her sister Leslie died at age 25 in 2012 and sister Bobbie Jean passed away in December 2023 at age 41.
“I always say the purpose of life is to love and to connect with people. It is to show up for people. That’s what this is about is that there is no stigma,” Angel noted about her siblings’ individual struggles with substance abuse. “There is no shame. People struggle with addiction and a lot of times it’s not their fault. There is a biological component to it, there is a genetic component to it and there’s a personality component to it and all of those things mixed together.”
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Since losing many of her siblings to substance abuse and mental health struggles, Angel has used her platform to help educate children through the Kids Mental Health Foundation.
“It’s really about teaching kids from birth about mental health and implementing it into the household. It is about talking to our kids about their emotions, teaching them that sometimes you’re going to feel sad, sometimes you’re going to feel mad and you’re going to feel happy. And all of these things are normal,” she detailed. “Being able to educate ourselves as parents and caregivers on how to recognize the signs earlier on is key. It has not only given me so much information on how to raise my daughter better, but I’m able to use my family’s platform and to spread that message and to continue to help people. That’s what it’s really about.”
After growing up largely out of the spotlight, Angel expanded her family with husband Corey Conrad. The couple, who have been married since 2014, share 5-year-old daughter Harper.
“I always say that, for me, being neglected ultimately saved me. Spending time with my friends and their families and sitting down and having dinner and all those things ultimately saved me,” she said. “It honestly took me 10 years of therapy to unpack everything that went through our childhood. It wasn’t until my late 20s that the shift really began to happen. I just got to a place where I was able to let the past be the past. I realized I’m not living in that anymore. I am safe. I have a life in Los Angeles, I have a husband and I’m OK. It definitely changed my life for the better and I’m very grateful. But there are certain ways now that I’m able to tackle my mental health and the things that I’m going through. I am strong and I’m thankful for that.”
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Angel’s philanthropic work has also allowed her to learn more about what Aaron and her sisters experienced.
“If they as addicts would’ve started to help people that were struggling with addiction, it would’ve actually helped and they would have had a better chance of them staying sober. They never did that. They never gave back. It’s the same thing with grief is that I am able to put my grief into something that is so positive and so meaningful and so important,” she continued. “It’s healing me at the same time. It’s incredible. Things happened the way that they were supposed to with that. My work is going to continue on after this film is done and I am excited for what the future holds and how we can keep spreading the message.”
The Carters: Hurts to Love You starts streaming Tuesday, April 15, on Paramount+.
