Former boy band members Ricky Garcia and Lance Bass are shedding light on the dark side of the entertainment industry, warning that young artists are often targeted by predators who exploit fame, money and power.
Garcia, 28, who starred on the Disney show "Best Friends Whenever," was a member of the boy band Forever in Your Mind. Bass, 46, rose to global stardom alongside Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick as members of *NSYNC, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
Both singers appeared in the new Investigation Discovery docuseries "Boy Band Confidential," which explores the highs and lows of boy band fame.
"Boy Band Confidential" premiered April 13 and 14 on Investigation Discovery.
During an interview with Fox News Digital at the docuseries' premiere, Garcia, who previously won a multi-million dollar sexual abuse lawsuit against his former manager, issued a warning about predatory behavior in show business.
"I think it's the number-one focus that people in the industry should be aware of," he said. "It seems like it's all glitz and glamor to people, but the reality is there's people that are abusing others."
"They use power, money, fame — all of it," Garcia continued. "Like cars and houses and money."
"I think that is very enticing and people use that against somebody that's very vulnerable, very fresh in the industry so I would be on the lookout for that," he added.
Garcia went on to say that artists examine their purpose for aspiring to careers in the entertainment industry.
"Like, 'Do you love the music or are you just trying to be famous?'" he said.
Reflecting on his own experience, Garcia identified early red flags for young artists and their families.
"I think the warning signs particularly is being isolated or being treated special," he said. "I'm just speaking for myself too, that was my experience. I was very isolated and I was picked off and ... I was treated very specially."
"If somebody is just treating you super nice and doing the dinners and doing all the fancy things for you, I would say that's not a great sign," Garcia continued. "It feels good in the moment, but you have to think about, 'OK, why is this person treating you this way? I don't really know them, so there must be a hidden motive.'"
"It's hard, because you wanna trust people, you wanna love people, but there's always a hidden agenda, especially for agents and managers and there has to be a very clear boundary, I think, with family and parents and even guardians," he said. "You need to know who is your safe person to talk to. There has to be really big communication."
While speaking with Fox News Digital, Bass also shared his advice for how people can protect themselves against potential predators.
"There's going to be predators everywhere no matter what business you're in — they are everywhere," he said. "So we have to be our own advocate for all of that — our family, our friends, our inner circle — we all have to be on the lookout for each other."
"Just rely on your family and your circle but just know that you're always — someone's always coming after you," Bass added. "No matter what it is — someone's coming after you."
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