Why a new documentary revisits Aaron Carter's tragic undoing
What Soleil Moon Frye remembers most about young Aaron Carter is his 'bright, bubbly, beautiful personality.' The pop sensation was only 13 years old when he guest-starred on a 2001 episode of 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch,' and Frye, who played Sabrina's college roommate, recalled in a recent interview that she was struck by how 'vivacious and full of life' he seemed to be. It couldn't have been easy growing up in the spotlight, let alone as Backstreet Boy Nick's younger brother.
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Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Yahoo
Boy Mom Melissa Joan Hart & Her Two Sons Took ‘Cold Plunging to the Next Level' in Rare Family Photo
When Melissa Joan Hart and her kids go on vacation, they do some pretty cosmic things together. While it wasn't a full family trip, it was one we're sure they won't forget: especially since they decided to do something rather daring together. On May 30, the Sabrina the Teenage Witch star shared a sweet vacay photo on her Instagram with the caption reading, 'Taking cold plunging to the next level! #Laketahoe.' More from SheKnows Wayne Gretzky's Daughter Paulina Solidifies Style Icon Status With a Springtime Version of an LBD In the photo, we see Hart in a one-piece with two of her sons, all of whom are in Lake Tahoe. Fun fact: Lake Tahoe has famously cold waters, making it a go-to for cold plunge therapy. Per Mayo Clinic, cold plunge therapy is when you submerge yourself in cold water for a few minutes to help reduce inflammation, boost mood, and improve circulation. The family that cold plunges together, stays together. That's how that goes, right? For those who don't know, Hart and musician Mark Wilkerson married in 2003 after one year of dating. They later welcomed three sons named: Mason, born in Jan 2006, Braydon, born in March 2008, and Tucker, born in Sept 2012. In a previous chat with SheKnows at the Variety Power of Women in 2024, she spoke about being a mom to three boys. 'Three boys can be a little overwhelming…There are some tough moments, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world because it's the greatest job I've ever had,' she said to of SheKnows 19 Celebrity Parents With Trans & Nonbinary Kids 20 of Serena Williams' Most Adorable Motherhood Moments 30+ Baby Names With Ivy League Vibes — No Degree Required
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
As a teen, Soleil Moon Frye's breast reduction made magazine covers. It taught the former 'Punky Brewster' star that 'people want you to stay little forever.'
Soleil Moon Frye has been in the public eye since she was a mismatched-shoed little girl on TV's Punky Brewster in the '80s. At 48, she feels like she's finally coming into her own. 'When we're really young, we have so much of that spark of who we want to be, of what we want to do and then, as life transpires, oftentimes we go on these different roads,' Frye tells Yahoo Life for our Unapologetically series. 'I personally feel like so much of the journey in my life — and this moment — has been guiding me back to who I really am and who I always was. Yet it took the path less traveled to get there.' Frye's path as of late has led her to documentary filmmaking. She helmed Paramount+'s two-part docuseries The Carters: Hurts to Love You, an exploration of how fame, mental illness and addiction led to singer Aaron Carter's death in 2022, told from the perspective of his twin sister, Angel Carter Conrad. Before that, Frye exposed her own experience growing up in Hollywood and losing friends to addiction and suicide in Kid 90, which was released by Hulu in 2021. She's currently completing a documentary about singer Shifty Shellshock, a childhood friend and ex-boyfriend who died from an accidental drug overdose in 2024. The projects come amid a larger period of self-discovery for Frye. She and her husband of more than 20 years, Jason Goldberg, who share four children, divorced in 2022. After their split, Frye reconnected with Crazy Town frontman Shellshock (real name: Seth Binzer), whom she had known as a teen. They went on to date, but ended their relationship prior to his death. 'It's been such a journey getting to this moment in time, and there's been so much love, faith, pain, grief,' she says. 'So many experiences of peeling back the onion.' Frye tells me about some of those layers — from growing up in a world that felt way too comfortable having discussions about her teenage body, to coming into her own as a filmmaker. I'm so thankful to be doing what I love each and every day. It makes me emotional because I love, love, love sharing stories … and to share stories that help create meaningful conversations is truly a dream. [Plus, there's been my own] self-discovery — through Kid 90 and [my old] diaries and what that brought up for me, the documentary [Werewolf and the Waves] I'm working on about [Shellshock] and The Carters, [which] led me into deeper empathy and compassion around looking at addiction as a disease. Every step has led me to right here, right now and I'm really thankful for it. It's been a beautiful, heart-wrenching journey to get here. In my 20s and 30s, there was a lot of wanting to make other people proud. … I cared what other people thought. … [My 40s have] been that process of unlearning and going: I have to do this because I love it and it feeds my soul. For a long time, I cared about what other people thought. I was really fortunate to have an incredible foundation at home and amazing family and friends and I look at our journey of growing up and growing up in the business [as] so colorful. There was so much fun and joy within our friendships. Some of my friends have gone on to have these incredible families and really healthy, exquisite lives and some of my friends didn't make it out. Some had struggles with their families and some had absolutely beautiful, stable families. … When you take mental illness and addiction and you combine that with money and fame and all of these other elements, then that can really implode. So many young people globally are struggling in front of their screens, while somebody else is liking, disliking or calling them out. This is a global crisis. I think about what a sensitive, loving, beautiful heart this young man had — and what becomes that breaking point? That certainly made me look at my own life. I remember wanting to please people and that doesn't even have to be something that your parents or the industry puts on you. It's something that you may put on yourself. But when you layer that, it can become explosive. Right? I had gone through this rapid development so early on as a teenager and feeling that objectification, all those layers. I can't even imagine doing it under the microscope of social media. That's what young people are going through — and I don't think we've begun to scratch the surface on what that looks like and what that means. I know. It's wild because I had [a breast] reduction and so much of that was health reasons — my back, all these different things — and then I remember it made it look like I had [other work done]. People were like, 'Oh, you did this and this and this.' No! What?! But I think we've lived so often in this sensationalist society where we love to build people up, and then we love to break them down. It was so surreal, and so crazy. I think so often when you grow up — and this is something that I related to with Aaron — is that when you play a character [like Punky], people want you to stay little forever. It's like they want to remember you as that little girl or boy. Then we grow up. I know for me, I went through such an awkward stage while trying to figure out who I was, who I wanted to be, in such formative years. So, as we were speaking earlier about coming back into myself, it's been such an incredible journey. One of the most incredible things has been that they're like, 'Oh, mom's been on this ride too.' I think that as much as we communicate and share stories about the awkward stages and our bodies, I think so much of it is inside. It's so internal. So you can make changes to your body, but so much of the work is the internal part of it. Something that is most important to me is us having conversations and not brushing things under the rug and looking within to get to the root of our experiences. I live in the bath a lot of the time — and I walk a lot. The last few docs were so intense and I remember there were days when I'd be on Zoom and I'd be like: 'Excuse me' and I'd have to [step away] because of the things that I was seeing or hearing. It was just so emotional. So meditation, walking, those are the things that I that I most lean into — and then my kids' arms. I feel like I'm graduating from my teens to my 20s. I'm entering my 20s. … I am still such a kid in so many ways. I have this joy for life and discovery and adventure and excitement that feels incredibly youthful — and at the same time, this incredible gratitude and appreciation for the experience. Sometimes I'll look at pictures of when I was in my teens and 20s, and I'm like, Look at that young woman and how beautiful and full of life she is. I really didn't see it at the time. I had so many insecurities. … I cared about what the world thought. I didn't have that level of self-love, so I wasn't really able to appreciate the beauty of what was. So I've really made it a point for myself, in this moment, that I really want to appreciate all the different versions of myself, so that when I'm 80, 90 or 100 years old, looking back, I can be like, Wow, you really were able to feel that moment and appreciate [it]. That's something that I work on on a regular basis. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Yahoo
‘Cheers' Stars Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman and More Pay Tribute to George Wendt: ‘It Was Impossible Not to Like Him'
Tributes to George Wendt quickly poured in after his family confirmed that the 'Cheers' star died Tuesday morning at the age of 76. Wendt, who played the wise-cracking and self-deprecating barfly Norm Peterson, was a favorite of the classic sitcom, earning six consecutive Emmy nominations on the show and appearing in all 273 episodes, including the very last scene of the show, which he shared with star Ted Danson. 'I am devastated to hear that Georgie is no longer with us,' Danson shared in a statement. 'I am sending all my love to Bernadette and the children. It is going to take me a long time to get used to this. I love you, Georgie.' More from Variety George Wendt, Who Played Norm on 'Cheers,' Dies at 76 Kelsey Grammer and Ted Danson Didn't Speak for 30 Years After Danson Confronted Him on 'Cheers' Set: 'I'm Kind of Mad You Don't Show Up Ready to Go' Viola Davis Gives an Emotional Speech for the Ages and Ted Danson Spreads the Love at the Golden Globes' Inaugural Golden Gala 'I'm heartbroken to hear about the passing of my friend George Wendt,' said co-star John Ratzenberger in a statement. The actor played know-it-all postal worker Cliff Clavin through the series' first nine seasons. 'For 11 years on 'Cheers,' we shared a stage, a lot of laughs and a front-row seat to one of television's most beloved friendships. George brought Norm to life with a subtle brilliance — the kind that made it look easy. That was his gift.' 'He was a true craftsman — humble, hilarious and full of heart. What you saw on screen was exactly who he was off screen with impeccable comedic timing and a deep loyalty to those he loved,' Ratzenberg continued. 'I'll miss our conversations and the quiet moments of friendship that meant the most. My thoughts are with his wife Bernadette, their children, and everyone who loved him.' 'George Wendt was the sweetest, kindest man I ever met,' said 'Cheers' co-star Rhea Perlman, who played waitress Carla Tortelli in the series, in a statement. 'It was impossible not to like him. As Carla, I was often standing next to him, as Norm always took the same seat at the end of the bar, which made it easy to grab him and beat the crap out of him at least once a week. I loved doing it and he loved pretending it didn't hurt. What a guy! I'll miss him more than words can say.' Tributes came in from outside the 'Cheers' family too, with 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' star Melissa Joan Hart reflecting on Wendt's guest appearances on the series on Instagram. 'Heaven just got a little funnier with George Wendt. It was a thrill to work beside him on 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' for a handful of episodes. I was a big 'Cheers' fan and knew I was among one of the best when he was on set,' Hart wrote. 'He was warm, professional and kind and our cast and crew were gifted with his presence every time. Rest in peace!' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
