After *NSYNC went on an indefinite hiatus in 2002, Joey Fatone had no idea he would be saying “Bye, Bye, Bye” to his finances.
The entertainer is now the executive producer of ID’s new docuseries, “Boy Band Confidential,” premiering April 13 and April 14. Featuring new interviews with fellow *NSYNC member Lance Bass, as well as Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean, among others, it explores the dark side of boy band fame at the height of the 1990s pop boom.
Fatone, 49, told Fox News Digital he was completely blindsided by his financial troubles.
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“… I started talking to the accountant who I had at the moment, and I thought that person was looking out for my best interests,” he said. “… I started watching the numbers deplete quicker and quicker than normal. I’m going, ‘This is not right.’ And then it was almost like a snowball effect.”
“When you’re starting to do things, and you’re in the heat of it, you don’t really realize it,” he said. “… I’m like, Wait a minute. I have all this stuff, and now it’s like your mortgage, your loan and everything — you’re not able to pay it anymore.”
“I wasn’t paying attention to what exactly was going on,” Fatone admitted. “You start digging into it, and you go, ‘I’m 20 years old, buying a couch, and I wanted each sofa cushion to be different. And that’s going to cost $5,000 to $7,000. I mean, what was I thinking?’”
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“[But] we all do it. Everybody who comes into money does the same thing. I don’t care who you are. The first thing you probably buy is a car or a house. And then it just trickles away if you’re able to get that money. And let’s be real, certain people in their lives [are] never really taught how to manage or handle money.”
Essentially out of a job and concerned about his finances, Fatone sought out a second accountant. He delivered a blunt warning: sell the sprawling lakefront home he bought at the height of his fame or face bankruptcy. The property stretched across four acres and spanned 10,000 square feet.
In the docuseries, Fatone recalls just how dire things became.
“During Christmas, they shut off the lights because I didn’t pay the bill,” he said.
His then-wife and their two children moved into his parents’ home. He lived in Las Vegas for about a year, seeking work.
“I had to live away for a while because I had to bust my a– and work, and we were on a tight budget,” said Fatone. “… I was working in Las Vegas, doing the live show of ‘The Price Is Right’ at Bally’s. At that moment in time, you’ve got to say yes to everything. I was buying $2 tacos at Bally’s because I just tried to save money.”
“Was I making a little bit of money? Yes, of course, but it wasn’t enough to even take care of some of the bills of my monstrosity house that I had,” said Fatone. “So many people go bankrupt. So many people have downfalls. It’s just that mine’s in the spotlight.”
“When you have a normal job, people have 401(k)s,” Fatone explained. “In my field, you don’t have a 401(k) if you don’t have your own business and your own LLC. You’ve got to figure out your own business and retirement plan.”
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Before relocating to Las Vegas for work while his family stayed behind, Fatone turned to friends for help. He was met with a response that stunned him.
“I swallowed my pride and said, ‘I need a little bit of help,’” Fatone recalled. “‘This is the navigation I need. I don’t need anything astronomical, but I need a little bit of guidance.’ It was interesting to see where certain people were like, ‘Sure, I’d love to help you.’ And certain people were like, ‘Nope.’ And they’re close friends.
“You just go, ‘OK, now I know who my real friends are and what they really wanted out of me. Was it because I was famous, and that’s why they hung out with me? Now that I didn’t have a pot to p— in, now they don’t care about me.”
“I just nodded and did what I had to do,” said Fatone. “I moved on and pretty much never talked to those people again.”
Fatone’s manager and executive producer, Joe Mulvihill, who was previously *NSYNC’s assistant, told Fox News Digital that fans don’t always understand what really happens to boy band wealth behind the scenes.
“The biggest myth about boy band wealth? I think people think it’s ridiculous how somebody like Joey could have financial problems after all the success that he’s had,” said Mulvihill. “You have people behind you saying, ‘Spend it. You have it, you’re making it, you’re earning it.’ And Joey got bad guidance.”
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“I have younger clients who I’m very protective of because of the stuff I’ve learned with Joey and with some of the other boy bands,” Mulvihill shared. “Maybe a little overprotective at times, but we’re still getting good results. … In this business, everybody tells you that you’re great, you’re going to be a star. [But] don’t get caught up in the glitz and glamour. Understand you’re given an opportunity … but don’t be too naive. Nothing is for free. You’ve got to earn it. You’ve got to work for it.”
In 1999, *NSYNC filed a lawsuit against their manager, Lou Pearlman, accusing him of financial misrepresentation and exploitative contracts that left the group earning far less than expected. The bitter legal battle ended in a settlement.
Pearlman, credited with starting the boy band craze and launching the careers of both Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, died in 2016 behind bars. His $300 million Ponzi scheme through his Trans Continental companies was uncovered in 2006. The 62-year-old was convicted of fraud in 2008. Hundreds of lawsuits were filed in the mogul’s case, including one by the Backstreet Boys, The Associated Press reported.
Fatone and his wife, high school sweetheart Kelly Baldwin, finalized their divorce in May 2019 after years of separation. Their split was described as amicable and largely the result of the couple growing apart.
Over the years, the singer managed to get back on his feet and never had to file for bankruptcy. He just kept doing what he knows best — working.
Under new management and a trusty accountant, Fatone became wiser about his finances.
“I never let anything get to me,” said Fatone. “I just kept working. Joe’s a testament in the sense of saying, ‘Work leads to work.’ And that’s what my mentality was, just keep working, no matter what it is. My mentality was that I worked and started at Universal and Disney back in the day. If I need to go back and do it again, I’ll do it again because I do love performing.”
Today, Fatone urges everyone to get educated on their finances, no matter their income.
“… Funny enough, Joe one time used to say to me, ‘Dude, you’re going on all these vacations, what are you doing?’” Fatone said. “He wasn’t wrong. I was going on vacation, just to go, ‘Where’s this money?’ After the money’s spent, you’ve got to replenish it. You can’t just keep spending and not have a life or have some sort of roof over your head.”
“Maybe certain people were born or raised to invest money or learn how to deal with it,” he reflected. “I did not. I learned the hard way, but it was a good learning lesson. And I would never change it.”
