New documentary reveals boyband 98 Degrees’ had age-of-consent manual while touring in 90s | US news
Members of 1990s US boy band 98 Degrees were equipped with a handbook listing the ages at which people across the country could legally consent to sex as they embarked on their first tour and their record label tried to limit their potential for legal trouble, the band’s frontman Nick Lachey reveals in a new documentary.
“This may sound very fishy, but… I remember our first tour, someone at the record company gave us a book, and this was the age of consent in every state in the country,” Lachey says on Boy Band Confidential, which premieres Monday at 9 p.m. on the Investigation Discovery cable channel. “And so we kept that book on the tour bus.”
Lachey’s words were included in the preview of the documentary, which was shared with media outlets including the Guardian. He adds that the age of consent guideline was written as a precaution while he and his bandmates were on the road surrounded by fans, at a time when 98 Degrees’ members were between the ages of 21 and 24.
The age at which a person can legally consent to sexual intercourse varies In the US, the age range varies by state but is generally between 16 and 18. Adults who engage in sexual activity with those under the age of consent can be charged with criminal sexual abuse, but there are states that make exceptions in certain cases involving older minors and young adults who are close in age.
In Boy Band Confidential, Lachey says of the age of consent book: “Unfortunately, there were people out there who wanted to tear you down.”
Archival footage shows a girl wearing braces saying this as she stands outside the concert saying “they’re hot, they’re gorgeous – we want to see them”. A girl next to him, about the same age, then interjects, “They have everything.”
Lachey’s comments met with a mixed reaction as they circulated ahead of the release of the two-part documentary, which promises to explore how the 1990s boy band boom in the music industry that gave rise to acts like ‘NSync, Backstreet Boys and others was rife with abuse, addiction and financial manipulation.
Canadian talkshow The Social summarized Undecided response in Friday’s episode. One presenter said a guideline like the one described by Lachey was “really progressive” for a period that predates the #MeToo campaign against sexual assault by nearly 20 years. But another disagreed: “Whenever an adult has to walk into the room and say, ‘Okay guys, here’s a guide on how to stay legal and still love it, even if it’s hard,’ it just seems so creepy to me.”
The second half of Boy Band Confidential, which can be watched on HBO Max, is planned to be released on Tuesday at 21.00.
Lachey and his 98 Degrees bandmates topped three of the five most popular songs in the US between 1998 and 2000: Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche), Because You and The Hardest Thing. They provided guest vocals on Mariah Carey’s No. 1 song Thank God I Found You, which earned a Grammy nomination for best vocal pop collaboration.
Other members of the Los Angeles-based band are Drew Lachey, Nick’s brother; Jeff Timmons; and Justin Jeffre.
Aside from leading 98 Degrees, Nick Lachey is perhaps best known for being married to pop singer Jessica Simpson from 2002 to 2006 and for hosting the Netflix game shows Love Is Blind and The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On with his wife, Vanessa Lachey (née Minnillo).
In Boy Band Confidential he describes how 98 Degrees’ contract with the Motown record label did not include much upfront payment, so the band often preferred to use public transportation or drive their own car to get around and eat at fast food chains.
Lachey is also seen discussing how the boy band’s hits came at a time when canceling shows to protect artists’ mental health wasn’t as normalized as it has been since.
“You’ll see Justin Bieber canceling a tour; you’ll see Shawn Mendes canceling a tour because ‘my mental health needs to come first,'” Lachey says in the documentary. “That wasn’t an option when we were there.”
“You went there, you did the show, you came back after the show, you broke down, you cried, you kicked the wall or did whatever you had to do, but you didn’t give in,” Lachey continued.
“You work so hard to get there that you can’t take your foot off the gas.”
