Celebrities Mariah Carey Can't Stand
It's not only the glass-shattering five-octave vocal range that has made Mariah Carey one of her generation's quintessential divas. The 19-time Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper is arguably just as renowned for her outrageous backstage requests, her soap opera-style love life, and her apparent inability to do stairs. Oh, if that's not all, she's also become the queen of throwing shade.
Indeed, Mimi hasn't stopped the sass since her evolution from a squeaky-clean, girl-next-door power balladeer to a feistier, much more scantily-clad R&B hitmaker in the mid-'90s. And she's often so subtle that it can take a while for her insulting way with words to truly sink in.
Carey can never be accused of punching down, either. From fellow pop superstars and reality TV powerhouses to ubiquitous TV presenters and even presidents, the elusive chanteuse has always saved her most disparaging remarks for those who know how to play the fame game. Here's a look at 11 familiar faces who have been on the receiving end of her sharp tongue.
Working with Nicki Minaj was a hellish experience
There certainly wasn't any love lost between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj when the pair both signed up for the 2013 season of American Idol. When asked what it was like to share a set with the "Super Bass" star by Hot 97, the diva equated it to "going to work in Hell every day, with Satan." Indeed, straying far from the usual media-trained party line, Carey went on to admit that she hated the talent show and that only the "nice, dangling monetary moment" made it all worth it.
Carey wasn't afraid to say things to Minaj's face, either, mocking her headwear and Mean Girls knowledge during their turbulent stint on the judging panel. In return, the rapper took to Twitter for a tirade of insults in which she claimed that jealousy about being overshadowed in the Billboard Hot 100 record books was the reason for all the squabbling.
TMZ also got its hands on footage taken during a break in filming in which Minaj threatened, "Say one more disrespectful thing to me, if you say one more disrespectful thing to me, off with your head! ... I'm not f***ing putting up with your f***ing highness over there." As for Carey's typically arch response? "Do I have a three-year-old sitting around me?"
Mariah Carey doesn't know J.Lo
Mariah Carey's feud with fellow singer/actress Jennifer Lopez birthed what is undoubtedly her most popular meme. In the early aughts, when asked by an interviewer what she thought of Jenny from the block, the star showed that when it comes to shading, ignorance can be bliss. "I don't know her," claimed Carey, despite the fact that by this point, J.Lo was already a bona fide chart-topping box office star.
Lopez chose not to bite back in 2014 when asked about the quote by Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, but she seemed slightly baffled about it considering the pair have never met. "I think it's from like ... word of mouth of things that have happened in the past that I'm not really aware of," she suggested. Carey left us none the wiser about the origins of their beef when she returned to the subject in a chat with The Cut, claiming, "I really wasn't trying to be funny. I was just being honest."
Their apparent feud once again made the headlines at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards when Lopez was filmed checking her phone while Carey performed on stage. The Hustlers star later told who else but Cohen that there was an innocent explanation for this apparent snub: "First of all, that was not fair with the texting thing because I watched a lot of it — it was a long performance, okay. I watched most of it."
Eminem's obsessed with her
You could write an entire book about the twisting, turning feud that is Mariah Carey versus Eminem. The pair first became unlikely sworn enemies in the early '00s when the provocative rapper claimed in an interview with Rolling Stone they'd been intimate, something which Carey strenuously denied on Larry King Live. The artist born Marshall Mathers further fanned the flames in 2009 when he dropped "Bagpipes from Baghdad," referencing their relationship shortly after Carey walked down the aisle with Nick Cannon.
The saga continued when Carey responded with a diss track of her own, "Obsessed," and also enjoyed some Eminem cosplay in its video. Unsurprisingly, the real slim shady didn't take this lying down and delivered a filthy kiss and tell, "The Warning," which began, "Only reason I dissed you in the first place is because you denied seeing me. Now I'm p****d off."
Eminem was still harping on about the matter in 2019, describing Carey as a "nut job" on Fat Joe's "Lord Above." But his arch nemesis may well have the last laugh. Indeed, according to Us Weekly, at the time of this writing, the rapper is reportedly running scared about the details in Carey's upcoming memoir.
Christina Aguilera displayed questionable behavior
Christina Aguilera was hailed as the new Mariah Carey when she burst onto the pop scene at the turn of the century. That being said, it appears as though Mimi wasn't too enamored with this comparison. In 2006 the former Mickey Mouse Club star told GQ that Carey had disrespected her at a party, adding (via Chicago Tribune), "But it was at that time that she had that breakdown, so she might have been very medicated."
However, the "Fantasy" singer claimed that it was, in fact, her younger counterpart who'd been rude on the occasion in question. She told Access Hollywood, "I had hoped that Christina was in a better place now than the last time I saw her, when she showed up uninvited at one of my parties and displayed questionable behavior (via People)."
The feud appeared to die down until 2015 when Aguilera was quoted by the National Enquirer (via Celeb Dirty Laundry), dissing Carey's Las Vegas residency. The big-voiced singer allegedly argued that by gracing the Sin City stage, her former sparring partner had resigned herself to the status of heritage act.
She hasn't paid attention to Madonna since seventh grade
They may appear to have died down with their feud in recent years, but back in the 1990s, the rivalry between Madonna and Mariah Carey was intense — to say the least. In fact, the Material Girl once told Spin she'd much prefer to "kill [herself]" than be the "Vision of Love" singer. In that same interview, she even mentioned Carey album buyers in the same breath as the O.J. Simpson acquittal to make a point about the state of the nation.
Carey bided her time in responding to such savage remarks but made it count when she finally did, claiming in an MTV interview, "I really haven't paid attention to Madonna since I was in seventh or eighth grade when she used to be popular."
The star also appeared to berate her former high school favorite in a series of British TV interviews in the early '00s. Indeed, although she never mentioned Madge by name, it was all too clear who Carey was referring to when she mocked American stars who adopt an English accent to sound posh.
Mariah Carey doesn't know Demi Lovato either
Disney Channel graduate Demi Lovato bravely (or foolishly) became yet another star to incur the wrath of Mariah Carey in 2016 when she reportedly spoke out about the diva's reputation. The drama began when the showbiz gossip account named The Art of Shade implied on Instagram that Ariana Grande was merely a low-rent version of Carey. Lovato apparently responded with the comment, "You got it the wrong way around honey" (via E! Online).
The "Heart Attack" singer then blasted Mimi for her conduct toward Jennifer Lopez and later surmised, "Extremely talented? Yes. Superhuman? Possibly. Unnecessarily rude? Absolutely." Unsurprisingly, Carey's army of fans known as "lambs" soon swarmed Lovato's feed to defend their idol. But the troubled star remained unrepentant, adding, "This is why I posted what I did. Jen keeps it classy but I'm not afraid to say s***. The woman is mean for no reason."
Never afraid to stir the pot, Andy Cohen later asked Carey what she thought of Lovato on his Watch What Happens Live show. Appearing to reference her most famous form of shade, the singer replied, "I don't know her either, and so I wouldn't say anything to her."
Mariah Carey didn't appreciate Ryan Seacrest's questioning
Ryan Seacrest appeared to fall foul of Mariah Carey when he dismissed her claims about that disastrous Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve performance in 2017. The singer had blamed the show's production team for the issues that had plagued her lip-synced appearance. But Seacrest was keen to defend the behind-the-scenes team in an interview for Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
Indeed, the ubiquitous TV host revealed he found it hard to imagine that the iconic show's experienced producers were responsible for the faux pas. And although Carey appeared to have redeemed herself when she returned to the same stage just 12 months later for a problem-free rendition of "Hero," the issue still seemed to be a thorny one for Seacrest.
While presenting E!'s red carpet coverage of the Golden Globes in 2018, he asked Carey about her New Year's Eve performances. Unsurprisingly, she didn't particularly appreciate this line of question, responding, "Well, can we not get into past moments? But it was a great feeling to be in New York, especially. I was so happy that we shared that moment together. It was really a cool moment."
She isn't Keeping Up with the Kardashians
In 2016 Mariah Carey joined the ever-growing list of pop stars to launch their own reality series with Mariah's World on the E! network. But compare the singer with the channel's biggest stars at your peril. Indeed, despite once working with Kim Kardashian's other half Kanye West on her triumphant 2005 comeback The Emancipation of Mimi, Carey doesn't appear to have much time for the Kardashians.
When asked by Complex about what her "lambs" could look forward to from her reality TV venture, Carey gave a typically withering answer. Looking around the fancy restaurant she was being interviewed in, the star spotted the Kardashian clan being filmed in their own private dining room. Carey then said, "Some of us talk about other people and what they do and la la la. But I'm not that person."
This wasn't the first time that Carey appeared to take aim at the Kardashians. The year previously, she told an Israeli reporter named Yarden Ben Aviv, "Some people's goal is to be famous, not to have a craft or an art that they're famous for. Today, you can be famous just from being on a reality ... well, doing ... you don't really have to do much, but you kinda gotta do a lot."
Mariah Carey isn't a fan of Donald Trump
Mariah Carey might not be particularly known for her views on all things political. But in 2019 she appeared to direct some of her talent for shading in the direction of the 45th President of the United States — Donald Trump. And she did so with a photo in which she stood alongside the 42nd.
After watching Barbra Streisand take to the New York stage at Madison Square Garden, Carey got the chance to enjoy a meet and greet with two other audience goers even more famous than the singer herself: Bill and Hillary Clinton (via AP News).
Carey posted photos of her smiling alongside the former White House residents on her Twitter account. But it was how she captioned them that made the headlines. Appearing to confirm which way her political allegiances lie, Mini tweeted, "An honor to meet President Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton! Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for our country."
She disputed Wendy Williams claims she's 'fragile'
Wendy Williams appeared to make Mariah Carey yet another of her celebrity enemies in 2016 when she stirred up trouble on her talk show (via Inquisitr) between the singer and her friend Lee Daniels. Ahead of the premiere of E! series Mariah's World, the outspoken host claimed the Empire creator had expressed concern Carey was too "fragile" to venture into reality TV.
However, in a video posted on her Instagram account, Carey and Daniels showed Williams that her allegations hadn't affected their friendship. "He's the bi**h that's fragile," Mini captioned the clip that she tagged the TV personality in before adding, "Don't come for us unless we call for you." Daniels then joined in with the fun by joking, "I'm the bi**h that's fragile, okay?"
Carey also appeared to take umbrage with Williams describing Mariah's World as a reality show, telling Daniels, "It's a f***ing docu-drama!" Unsurprisingly, the chat show host didn't take things lying down. She's since mocked Carey for her weight, her marital status and her relationship with Eminem.
Tommy Mottola treated Mariah Carey like a prisoner
Unsurprisingly, Mariah Carey has often saved her most cutting remarks for her first husband, Tommy Mottola. The singer first met the powerful Sony Music executive, 20 years her senior, in a professional capacity before their relationship became a more intimate one. And in the same year Carey released her monster-selling sophomore Music Box in 1993, the pair walked down the aisle.
Things turned sour as the decade progressed, and the couple officially divorced in 1998. Although they initially kept things civil, Mottola would later describe their marriage as both "inappropriate" and "wrong" in his book Hitmaker: The Man and His Music (via Billboard). But Carey has been a lot more brutal in her dissections of their time together.
In 2019, Carey painted a particularly bleak picture of their married life in an interview with Cosmopolitan. She said, "You might want to picture a child bride. There was a conscious effort to keep me as this all-American, whatever that means, girl. It was very controlled. There was no freedom for me as a human being. It was almost like being a prisoner."