Like several of his fellow boybanders, Bass isn't sure how to feel about his former manager's death in prison at 62.
Lou Pearlman was a complicated figure among the bands he managed.
Lance Bass talked to ET's Carly Steele on the 2016 MTV VMA red carpet Sunday, where he opened up about the 62-year-old manager, who died in prison last week while serving a 25-year sentence for orchestrating one of the largest Ponzi schemes in American history.
WATCH: Lou Pearlman, Former Manager of the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, Dies In Prison at 62
"You never want to hear [of] anyone passing away, and I will never speak ill of the dead," the 37-year-old singer explained, "but it's very conflicting feelings, of course."
Pearlman, who was convicted in 2008 for his involvement in a scheme that swindled 1,700 investors out of a half-billion dollars, was also sued by most of the acts he managed -- the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, O-Town, LFO, Take 5, Natural and Aaron Carter -- for fraud and misrepresentation.
"We didn't have the best relationship at all, but if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have met four of my best friends," Bass added. "The worst way to go, I think, is dying in prison so... if you believe in karma, he got his in the end."
Bass and many of his fellow boybanders have expressed mixed emotions after Pearlman’s death.
Watch the video below for Justin Timberlake's condolences to his former manager.