Bye, bye, bye everyone, because we’re going to be staying indoors until we’ve watched this one from start to end. If you plan to join us, here’s what you need to know…

What’s Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam about?

“Lou Pearlman changed music culture forever,” reads a description of the documentary on Netflix’s Tudum. “The architect of an extraordinary era of pop, he launched the careers of The Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Britney Spears, O-Town and so many more. But he also carried a dark secret…

“With never-before-seen archive and unique access highlighting the artists’ epic rise to global stardom, this series uncovers Pearlman’s web of lies, revealing the harsh realities of fame, power, exploitation and greed.”

Who is Lou Pearlman?

As well as being the mastermind behind some seriously big popstars, Lou Pearlman was a scam artist who conned a lot of people out of *checks notes* $300 million. And he did the stars he managed seriously dirty, too.

Case in point? In an interview with The Guardian, *NSYNC’s Lance Bass recalls how he and members of the group had been living on an allowance of $35 a day. After three years of record sales, Pearlman invited the band over to his house to receive their share of the fortune they’d amassed so far… and handed them a cheque for $10,000 each.

“That is when I knew we were being taken advantage of,” says Bass. “There was something wrong. We immediately started calling lawyers.”

When can we watch Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam?

Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam will stream on Netflix from 24 July. Will you be tuning in?

Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam is our kind of Netflix documentary