Hilary Duff Pays Tribute to Late Ex Aaron Carter With Vintage Tee at ‘Lucky Me’ Philadelphia Show

A T-Shirt Brings Aaron Carter Back Into Hilary Duff’s Tour Night

Sometimes a T-shirt really does say everything. Hilary Duff stepped onto the stage in Philadelphia wearing a vintage shirt featuring her late ex Aaron Carter, quietly bringing a very personal piece of her early-2000s history into The Lucky Me Tour.

The moment happened during Duff’s August 9, 2026 show in Philadelphia. She did not stop the concert for a speech about Carter or turn the night into a formal memorial. Instead, she simply performed in the oversized white tee, which featured a young Aaron from his pop-star heyday and his name across the front.

For anyone who lived through the Disney Channel years, the image carried plenty of history on its own. Duff and Carter were romantically linked as teenagers in the early 2000s, and Carter memorably guest-starred on Lizzie McGuire in the 2001 episode “Aaron Carter’s Coming to Town,” where Lizzie finally gets her backstage moment — and a kiss.

Carter died on November 5, 2022, at age 34. In the days after his death, Duff publicly remembered the charm he had as a teenager and acknowledged how deeply her younger self had loved him. Nearly four years later, the Philadelphia shirt felt less like a grand gesture and more like a small, affectionate nod to somebody who was once a major part of her life.

The connection has not completely disappeared with time, either. Earlier in 2026, Duff revealed on Las Culturistas that a psychic once unexpectedly brought up Carter during a reading. She has also said she remains close with his twin sister, Angel Carter, and that their families still talk about Aaron.

So no, there was no lengthy dedication from the stage. There did not need to be. One old-school Aaron Carter tee, worn in front of thousands of people, carried the memory just fine. We speak your name, Aaron Carter.

Hilary Duff’s Aaron Carter Tribute in Philadelphia

Duff’s quiet tribute connected her current tour with a relationship and pop-culture moment that helped define the earliest years of her career.

Watch the Hilary Duff Tour Moment

See the Aaron Carter shirt that had fans feeling all of the early-2000s emotions during Duff’s Philadelphia stop below.

Sources: People, Entertainment Weekly.