nightline" celebrity secrets. grasping fororhe big time rush of fame. >> is fame like a drug? >> even the tiniest stars, driven to make it big. >> what do you want to be when you grow up? >> famous. >> kids. skyrocketing. ♪ friday, friday >> i'm living a dream. >> viciously attacked. >> you suck at singing. i hope you go die. >> playing the fame game can mean play rg fire. >> they're nothing. they have no choice. sfw still, when they're all grown up, all they want is to

recapture the rush. "celebrity secrets: underage & famous" starts right now. >> good evening. more than money or power or everyone being asked to the prom, kids today want one thing above all. fame. but the fame game is actually a cut throat business. far too often, the innocence of childhood can get lost on the dangerous road to stardom. we begin tonight with a girl who was in middle school fife months ago. she became wildly famous. for all the wrong reasons. she was viciously bullied online. she's still chasing fame. ananea canning asks her, is it worth it? ♪ we hit the boulevard >> that's a nerdy katy perry in her new video, "friday night." who is that at the door?

rebecca black. remember her? ♪ friday, friday >> my mom got call from my manager and said, well, katy wants you to be in her new video. i fell over. ♪ it's a blur but i'm pretty sure it rules ♪ >> reporter: what did katy say coyou when you arrived on the set? >> she was dressed in her alterego. she said, oh, my gosh, it's rebecca black. >> reporter: just five months ago, rebecca black exploded. "friday" hit 167 million views on youtube. making her an instant star. it also launched national debate about whether it really was the worst song ever. this 13-year-old started her

seventh grade year as a regular girl. >> i practiced my autograph since i was 5 years old. >> reporter: it all began when her mother paid music producers $h,000 to write "friday" and make the video. >> the best $4,000 i ever spent. let me tell you that. ♪ friday, friday >> reporter: it was posted on youtube and picked up by a comedy blog. when did you realize this video had gone viral? >> probably, after seeing it go from 4,000 views to 70,000 views in one night. and then waking up and it was at 200,000 views. that was -- that was when i realized this is going to be big. >> reporter: fame hit like a tsunami.

parodies hit the internet. ♪ tuesday, tuesday >> reporter: everyone celebrities got in on it. ♪ friday friday looking for the weekend i know it's friday ♪ ♪ thursday thursday thedy before friday the day after wednesday two days after tuesday ♪ >> reporter: critics were harsh. her song is the worst song i have heard in my life. even deaf people are complaining. >> they can say things like that just to get to me. >> reporter: in her bedroom, she reads hateful words online. >> you're so fat. you suck at singing. i hope you go die and i think you should get an eating disorder because that will make you prettier. >> reporter: it goes beyond the internet. >> when i go by, they'll start

singing "friday" in a nasally voice. or, hey, rebecca, guess what day it is? >> reporter: this spring, the teasing became so relentless, she opted for home schooling. why did you decide to pull her out of school? >> it's hard to go to school when you're so famous and to have kids constantly making fun of what's going on. >> reporter: but online, she was still a target. cnn's i-report website falsely carried a story that she was pregnant at 13. >> it's frustrating. i'm still -- like, excited over my first kiss. >> reporter: and even more alorming, death threats. you have the fbi involved. >> the fbi is involved in investigating some of the death threats. there's not a stone left

unturned when it comes to her safety. >> reporter: you seem so grown up about it all. >> i have experience with not being liked. if i hadn't had to deal with it in the past, i would have handled it differently. i would have gone down in burning flames. you can't let it get to you. >> reporter: today, it justt might be rebecca black who is having the last laugh. this weekend, she won a teen choice award. and she sang on stage with her biggest fan, katy perry at her los angeles concert. ♪ it's friday friday gotta get down on friday ♪ >> reporter: even lady gaga has come to her defense. >> i think rebecca black is a genius. anybody telling herer she's chey is full of [ muted ]. >> reporter: now she can't go

anywhere without fans flocking. she's surrounded by her new entourage. sometimes even a body guard. how do you feel in the middle of all of this and all these people want your autograph? >> it's kind of scary. >> reporter: but it all has a big perk. are you rich now? >> i really don't know how much money is in any account. >> reporter: you don't know how much money you have actually made? >> i don't know. it keeps coming in. so kind of more and more every day. >> reporter: enough to send you to college for four years? >> yes, yes, enough. >> reporter: the money from her first song is financing her second. >> we're on the set of my new video, my moment. i'm getting hair and makeup done. ♪ i'll just keep on dreaming >> reporter: she just released her new video, my moment.

my moment has nearly 22 million views to date on youtube. though twice as many dislikes as likes. for rebecca, the lyrics say something personal. >> the first line was, weren't you the one who said -- ♪ that i would be nothing it's saying to everyone out there that said that and the next line is and now i'm about to prove you wrong because i am. i am worth something. and -- i will be big. ♪ now everybody can see this is my moment ♪ and next, the latest boy band. ♪ i wanna be famous >> what does your body feel like when the girls are screaming at you? bye mom! bye sweetie! you'll do great.

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some child strars born. others are created. the boy band big time rush was meticulously manufactured by nickelodeon's fame machine to make teen girls swoon. it's working. in just three years, they're bona fide rock stars. they have hordes of screaming fans. we caught up with them at a sold out concert in san diego. ♪ wanna be famous >> reporter: in a culture obsessed with celebrity this boy band's anthem sums it up. you wanna be famous. >> you can't walk off. >> who here watches "big time rush" on nickelodeon. >> reporter: if you have never heard of them, go ask a 10-year-old, or maybe a

7-year-old. they've been watching "big time rush" on kid's tv. ♪ gotta live it big time >> a week ago, we were a hockey team in minnesota. today, we're a band in l.a. >> reporter: kendall, logan, carlos, and james with tv stars that play rock stars but whose real-life concerts are selling out. what doess your body feel like when 10,000 screaming girls are in the crowd? >> it feels amazing. we would probably be deaf. >> anybody want a big time rush t-shirt? >> reporter: they're the latest incarnation of a wildly successful formula. tv show abo on the road to stardom. miley had hannah montana. victoria justice has victorious.

and the jonas brothers are the jonas brothers. ♪ hold on hold on hold on >> reporter: it's a money-making entertainment machine that hooks millioning ins of fans with tv ratings, who then buy music and flock to the concerts. ♪ big big big big >> reporter: ironically, these 21-year-old men play high school boys on a show that attracts even younger tweens. >> that happens to work for the show. it happens to work for our fans. as young as4 years old to people our age and the parents. >> reporter: to create big time rush, 15,000 boys were competing for four slots. this is kendall's audition. james has the chops.

he sang in opera at age 8. ♪ >> reporter: that's excellent. nice. scott fellows is part task master and part chaperone. the executive producer that created the show. you scoured the earth. >> we were not going to be satisfied until we had the chemistry. you hdad a guy that could dance but didn't have the acting or the comedy. >> reporter: they all still remember the moment three years ago when they were told they made the cut. >> i was more freaking out. i knew it was a big responsibility. >> scary. >> here we go. >> everybody has a different idea this their mind of what it's like to be famous. it's a much harder and less glamorous life than you think. >> reporter: jc chasez hasas be

this their shoes. as part of the boy band 'n sync. >> you know this opportunity can only come once in a lifetime. if you don't take it and take advantage of it, it might pass you by. >> reporter: you have the ride the wave? >> you say yes to everything. >> reporter: and saying yes to everybody has led big time rush into big time commitment. what does it feel like to be the cog in the machine? >> it's become a lifestyle. >> it's bigger than all of us. >> there's so much going on. it's like -- i mean, i sleep, eat, drink, wake up, everything big time rush. >> bingo! >> reporter: it's been a grueling three years. churning out music videos and dozens of tv episodes that will likely live on in cable tv

heaven. >> it's a box for 16 hours a day. it's dark. sometimes we show up, it's nighttime, we leave when it's nighttime. we never see the sun. ♪ party like a rock star >> reporter: is there a down side yet? >> not sleeping. >> well, i think when it's 2:30 in the morning on a friday and you're shooting in a bathroom at paramount studios and have to be in texas the next morning and haven't packed yet, they'll look at me and say, i want out of here. i'll say, you can't go. >> reporter: tell me the truth. how much do you get on each oth other's nerves? >> all the time. >> we fight like brothers all the time. >> over the smallest things. >> reporter: give me an example. >> james got the last of the

ketchup. >> or who will ride shotgun in the van or the suv. >> reporter: you sound like my sons. >> we get more immature by the day. >> reporter: yet my children don't have thousands of screaming girls chasing them. >> it's not that bad of a thing to have thousands of girls chasing you. >> it's awful. >> reporter: it's awful? >> it's cool. ♪ don't look back don't hesitate ♪ >> reporter: the band is on an international concert tour. from album signings in london. to packed arenas in germany. >> getting off the plane in germany, we had 100 people waiting at the airport in a different country we have only been to, like, once or twice. >> i got no control over this. >> reporter: the road to international superstardom is a rocky one. >> fame is like a drug. when you get it, it's such a big

high. and then when you lose it, you try to do everything to get it back. johnny wright has seen it time and time again. he's managed a trifecta of boy bands. and early on, britney. ♪ give me a sign hit me baby one more time ♪ >> britney's first single went number one in the country. >> reporter: it came too fast? >> it came fast. you don't get a chance to make decisions a lot for yourself. >> reporter: the machinery takes over? >> you rebeb in different ways. >> reporter: and she rebelled? >> i think so. >> reporter: johnny says he worried about the instant fame on big time rush. >> i feel bad for them in some respects. the minute the tv show goes on, all of a sudden, they're at the certain point.

>> reporter: fame hits immediately. >> right. >> it's tough. people don't realize how much people are looking at you and judging you and trying to constantly watch you fail. and hoping that you will fail. >> everyone wants to watch a train wreck. >> reporter: i don't want to read about you doing something falling off the -- >> then stop reading. no, i'm kidding. >> reporter: how do you guarantee the moms out there you're not going to break their hearts? >> nobody is perfect. so we're going to try our best to be positive role models. >> this is going to go on for as long as we have fun and as long as our fans enjoy it. >> see you guys, soon. ♪ they call me cutie next, a pint-sized beauty queen. >> what do you want to be when you grow up? >> a souperstar.

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celebrity secrets continues. eden wood is prapts the most polarizing 6-year-old in america. in full makeup and sequins, she's starred in a tv series, authored a book, and recently released a single. it's hard to draw the line

between her desires and her mother's. here again, andrea canning. ♪ they call me cutie >> reporter: she seems to be more at home on the stage than the playground. today, she's wowing crowds at this mall outside of des moines in her traveling show. >> yeah! >> tell her what you want to be when you grow up. >> a superstar. >> reporter: why do you want to be a superstar? >> i don't know. >> tell her. >> because i'm famous. >> reporter: but eden's road to fame began years before on the pint-sized pageant circuit. now, with over 300 krouns and one feisty attitude -- >> i don't want lipstick. >> reporter: the little girl from taylor, arkansas, has being

aa big heart throb. after being on the show, "toddlers & tiaras." but now, before she's lost any of her baby teeth,'d season already this the process of reinvented herself. her mother, micki, has made the decision to retire her daughter from pageants. why has she retired from pageants? >> when she finished, we had to make choices. her heart is not with the hair spray. she's her. she's come into her own. >> reporter: but micki has bigger ambitions. >> i'm eden and this is my monkey funky song. >> reporter: she has to stay in the spotlight in the meantime.

they've embarked on a multistate tour of malls and coffee shops in the midwest. what is the end goal of all this? to make eden a house hold name? to be rich? >> who knows, the sky's the limit. >> reporter: five cities, 900 miles, a manager and three moms. micki says he's doing it all because it's what eden wants. do you want to be a singer? is that what you hike the most? how come? >> because it's real cool the. >> reporter: what do you think is so cool about it? >> because you get to see all the stars and everything. >> reporter: they say the road to stardom is filled with many hazards. on this sunday evening in missouri, the van runs into one of them. a flat tire.

not one of the four women on board has ever had to change one before. the sun is setting, they have to where to stay, and there's not a hair salon in sight. but, as luck would have it, eden wood fans are everywhere. >> remember seeing her on tv? >> reporter: like here at bill's truck and tire shop. >> can i have a big hug from all of you? >> reporter: grown adults some what star struck ask for an autograph and a photo with the famous reality star. eden gets a chance to be a kid for a little bit. but not for long. soon, it's back on the road. where micki sees nasty posts on the facebook page. >> the mother wants to live her dreams through her child. some of them literally make her

look like a child. ♪ cutie >> reporter: it's criticism she gets everywhere. during her recent performance on "the talk" the ladies didn't seem to be enjoying the show. >> sharon osbourne had the most distasteful look at her face. >> reporter: what you would you say to her? >> why? why? you, of all people, with children in the industry and a husband who is a megastar, i don't understand why you had to look at my child that way. >> reporter: she hasn't let her critics bring her down. she's trying to get her to focus on the performance and rehearsi rehearsing. eden is focusing on the curlers that are too tight. >> we're through. we're through. you're not going to give it

everything you got, we're not going to rehearse. >> i don't want to do the -- >> there's nothing wrong. i know you can't do it all. >> i don't like the thing. >> what is it? >> because she's a drama queen. >> no, it hurts. >> reporter: are you that pushy stage mom? pushy, no. dedicated, yes. i'm not trying to live vicariously. i'm not trying to get rich. we're having fun doing what she wants to do. if she wants to go out in the parking lot and walk this the mud puddles, we do that, too. ♪ >> reporter: the show in springfield doesn't go well. only a handful of people show up. [ applause ] >> it's not fair for any of us. >> reporter: a disappointing day spills over into the eden wood

and the glamour girls van with tensions among the moms boiling over. >> h h big suitcase. >> i said i would change. >> let's not be so selfish and work as a group. >> reporter: the girls' manager says the toughest part has not been the performers -- >> it's been the moms. hypercompetitive. and you have a lot of tempers flaring all the time. >> reporter: on a scale of 1 to 10, what are we talking about on this tour? 10 being the ultimate stage moms. >> i would say thesere about 20s. >eporter: worried about low turnout on the last stop, micki books eden on a local news station. >> your career is going to be what? what are you going to do? >> i'm going to rule the world. >> okay. >> reporter: but nothing comes easy or cheap, especially when

you're trying to break into show business. how much money have you spent on her career? >> around 100,000. her dad and i both work. her dad has two jobs. the idea that we're living off our daughter makes me want to puke. >> reporter: she says there's been a whole lot more money put out than brought in. >> i'm in the book. >> reporter: eden spots herself in a magazine. there's a big crowd of fans at this mall appearance. and though eden has had some good times. >> i like riding in the van. >> you like riding in the van. it's too hard on little eden. >> reporter: the tour has been tough. >> i think this is too much for a child this young. it's been a long week. if i push her too hard, i'm not doing anything but destroying my child. >> i'm little eden. >> reporter: if she keeps going

on this path, she'll be busier than ever. >> we didn't go looking for this. it happened. >> reporter: with gnathat, the train to superstardom rolls on. what is the big goal? >> i guess score a motion picture. why not a hollywood contract, a reality show. it's the american dream. it's her destiny. and next. cocoy feldman's childhood was destroyed by fame. >> i didn't know what it meant for someone to come in and tell me they loved me and kiss me good night. >> the casting couch applied to children? >> it's the big secret. >> and it's widespread? >> oh, yeah. s jet's pizza -- sterling heights, michigan. in here, food is inspected, perfected and occasionally rejected. with a customized mobile app developed with at&t, jet's food inspectors can share data in real time --

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. coming up, a trip down memory lane with steve urkel

from "family matters." to the kid from "jerry mcgwire

former child star corey feldman practically grew up on a hollywood set, doing commercials, tv and iconic movies. now 40 years old, he has come forward with bombshell revelations. behind the scenes, he says, child stardom is rife with exploitation, even sexual molestation. from los angeles, david wright has the truly shocking details. >> reporter: corey feldman has no idea what it's like not to be famous. he was 3 years old in this mcdonald's commercial. >> i literally was famous before i knew my own name. >> reporter: his roles defined the '80s. >> this was my dream, my wish. >> reporter: "stand by me." >> call my dad a weenie again

and i'll tell you. >> reporter: "licensed to drive". >> the only difference between you and that greaseball is he has a license and you don't. >> reporter: filil that propelled him into the spotlight for his entire youth. but, being famous so young, he says, caused serious damage to him and his friends. do you feel like you missed out on a normal childhood? >> what childhood? i don't know what that means. >> reporter: a lost childhood. and a loss of innocence. he blames the adults. not just those looking to profit from charming children but also some with far more sinister motives. >> i can tell you that the number one problem in hollywood was and is and always will be pedophilia. that's the biggest problem for children in this industry. >> the casting couch even applies to children? >> oh, yeah. not in the same way. it's all done under the radar. >> nobody talks about pedophphia? >> it's the big secret. >> it's widespread?

>> oh, yeah. i was surrounded by them when i was 14 years old. surrounded. literally. didn't even know it. to realize what they were and gh what they wanted and what they were about and the types of people that were surrounding me, till i went, oh my god, they were everywhere, like vultures. >> reporter: vultures that abused him and his best friend, the late child actor corey haim. his costar in "the lost boys." >> what happens if my mom is dating the head vampire? >> reporter: he says the trauma of that pedestrian feel may contributed to haim's death. >> there's one person to blame in his death and that person is a hollywood mogul. that person needs to be exposed and unfortunately i can't be the one to do it. that person is watching right now i guarantee you. >> intriguing. >> it was a circle of older men that surrounded themselves around this group of kids. they had their own power or

connections to great power in the entertainment industry. >> reporter: feldman won't name names. he admits his friend had a strug quell struggle with addiction which he says was a mechanism to cope with his demons. it was a symptom? >> correct. >> reporter: in 2008, the two coreys confronted each other on their reality show about the dark past they shared. >> you let me get around in my life, raped, so to speak, when i was about 14 1/2 and i'm saying this right now. what did you do when you saw that going down? when i was 14? what did you do? you knew about it? >> you want to talk about the truth. okay. let's talk about the truth. i was being molested at the same time by somebody else. what did you do? >> there's a lot of good people in this industry. but there's a lot of really, really sick, corrupt people in this industry. there are people in this industry that have gotten away with it for so long that they feel like they're above the law. that's got to change. that's got to stop.

>> reporter: we contacted corey haim's mother. in an e-mail she said, i'm not willing to discuss or respond to anything corey feldman has to say. i wish he would talk about himself only and leave my son out of it. is there a dark side to child stardom? >> definitely. i i ink a lot of kids don't really want to do it. i think the parents want to do it more than the kids. >> reporter: chris snyder says for most child stata it's the parents that can cause more damage. he would know, having managed with his late boss iris burton some of the most iconic child stars. including feldman, river phoenix, and drew barrymore. >> the biggest problem in the whole thing is when the parents start to live through the kids and quit their jobs and buy expensive houses, buy expensive cars. and the parents aren't understanding it's not going to go on forever.

and it just wrecks everything. >> reporter: feldman's parents managed his career until the money came between them. >> i got legally emancipated by going to the producers pension health and welfare plan myself, at 14 years old,d, and saying, what were my earnings? and what's left? earnings by the timeme was 13 years old, $1 million. really not that much money, but in those days it was. you know. in the late '70s, early '80s. that was a good chunk of change. >> reporter: how much was left? >> $40,000. when i went in for the trial, my father said, since i spent my time with you on your last film and took it away from my office where i should have been focused, i'm going to ask you for that $40,000 back as repayment for the money that i lost in my business. >> reporter: you had to pay your dad? >> correct. you can check the court filings. that was a fact. i started at zero at 15 years old, coming out of the hole. >> reporter: we asked the court for the records. but they're sealed. in a statement, corey's father

bob feldman told us, any money that the court awarded is a fraction of his claim. and this was a reimbursement for strictly professional expenses, for instance, private school, a publicist, professional wardrobe, traveling expenses and lots more. this helped to save his career while he was in trouble with drug problems. i thought i was doing the best for my son and i'm always here for him. child stardom is not a dream feldman has for his own son. >> i'll see you in a minute. >> reporter: he is, after all, one of the few stars who doesn't let his child get photographed on the red carpet. would you ever put your own kid into the industry? >> no, absolutely not. >> reporter: never? >> never. i believe that everybody in the world should have the freedom of choice. >> reporter: and child stars don't? >> child stars have nothing. they have nothing. they have no choice. i was never taught how to have a family. i was never taught how to raise a child because i wasn't raised properly. i was never taught how to care for somebody because i was never

shown genuine love. i was shown business. this is what you do, this is how you read a contract. i knew how to read a contract by 10 years old. i didn't know what i was to have someone come in and kiss me good night. that's a problem. rememeer steve urkel? from "family matters"? and the adorable girl from "annie"? those iconic child stars tell us about the highs and lows of life after fame. adorable girl from "annie "? so i just have to show a college id? and you get an extra hundred dollars back

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"celebrity secrets: underage & famous" continues. while a few child stars stay famous for life, the majority are relegated to where are they now status. what is life like when you have peaked at puberty? from los angeles, chris connelly finds out. >> macaulay cull kin thihi "hom

alone." lindsay lohan in "the parent trap." hitting it big as a child star is no guarantee of grownup success. of the kind enjoyed by drew barrymore or natalie portman. making it young cane a double-edged sword. ever eager to recapture the buzz that was. ♪ it's a hard knock life for us ♪ >> reporter: it was the role little girls dreamed of. ♪ the sun will come out tomorrow ♪ >> reporter: thaha 10-year-old aileen quinn got. filmed here at new jersey's monmouth university. >> i came into the great hall. the skreelings are beautiful. tiffany stained glass. the camera did just that. it came back to me being amazed. wow. this is where i'm going to live.

>> reporter: where a now 40-year-old aileen quinn works as a theater professor. ♪ the one mistake was giving up me ♪ ♪ so maybe now it's time >> reporter: she yearns for a role that would put her back in the spotlight. if the sun hasn't come out for her on that front, she's not lost the same spunky hope that drove her character. ♪ together at last, together forever ♪ >> i realize that the film was iconic. i just want to keep working as an actor. it doesn't matter if it's iconic. >> just to be working again and doing more films and possibly doing tv would be great. it doesn't matter what the role is, how big it is. >> did i do that? >> reporter: you sure did.

in the early '90s, steve urkel became the breakout character on the sitcom "family matters" a catch phrase machine. >> i'm wearing you down, baby. >> reporter: it made jaleel white into an instant sensation. >> peace, baby. >> reporter: he got to play urkels alter ego. meanwhile, the real jaleel got his party on. sometimes. >> don't get it twisted. i won't play innocent for you, dog. i've been overseas. i sat across from mariah carey with my bottle of champagne, too. >> reporter: he has a 2-year-old daughter. are you set for lifeff "family matters "? >> i'm good. i don't want to say, daddy's set

for life, get me a beer, baby. >> reporter: he's the voice of sonic, the hedge hog. he's in ce rks lo green's latest video. his show business career is alive. but urkel is dead to him now. >> for me, talking about steve urkel and stephan urkel is like talking about deceased relatives. it is. >> reporter: how much do you want the level of success again? >> i want it again but i want it different. my greatest dream is for my self-expression to be on the stage. as i'm talking about the frustrations, i have a very nice car parked out there. >> reporter: it might be hard to imagine that this studio biology major, 18 years ago, was playing america's favorite troublemaker. >> mr. wilson.

>> reporter: mason gamble says walter matthau also looked out for him. >> i could on the work eight hours a day. in walter's contract, he could only work eight hours a day also. it was thefr my fault at the end of the day we had to stop. >> reporter: what happened to the money you made? >> college. it paid for my education. the money is a misconception. had we done a sequel or three of those, the money might have really been rolling in. i never made that much. >> reporter: he's 25 and soon to dwr graduate, still h hing to reinvent his career. a long way from mr. wilson. >> absolutely. >> did you know the human head weighs eight pounds? >> reporter: he wasn't the first

choice to play the kid in "jerry maguire." jonathan lipnicki comes in. >> he has the big tom cruise smile. i believe i said, i have a need for speed. we just hit it off. did you know that my next door neighbor has three rabbits. >> i can't compete with that. >> reporter: he was no one-hit wonder, scoring in both stuart little movies. he studies acting and seex tougher roles. like the one he played in the indy "for love of money." >> don't think i'm that intercept. >> reporter: for his sanity, he credits his parents. they kept him in public school. >> parenting is key. without good parents, it's likely you can get lost. >> reporter: now he practices

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