Mariah Carey reluctantly responded to her long-standing feud with Eminem during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live last night.
Host Andy Cohen enlisted the pop diva for a game of “Plead The Fifth!,” where she could opt to remain silent on one of the three questions he asked her. First, Cohen inquired how much money Carey makes off of “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” a query that she gracefully dodged. He then asked for her reaction to Nick Cannon saying he insured his balls for 10 million dollars. “Lord, help me,” she said before asking for the next question.
“This summer, a music producer claimed the real reason why you and Eminem started beefing was because he approached you about playing his mom in 8 Mile,” Cohen said. “Is there any truth to that?”
“From what I heard there is truth to that,” Carey replied. “But I don’t think that he actually—well, who knows who approached who.”
“But did that ignite the beef?” Cohen asked.
“Um, no,” Carey responded. “I mean, maybe. It depends what he’s thinking. I really don’t care. Like, whatever he’s said, then I’m that, fine. Not really. But that’s a rap lyric.”
The beef between Carey and Eminem kicked off in the early ’00s. Eminem claimed that he was involved in a romantic relationship with the singer for a few months, which she has denied. He subsequently referenced her on several songs, including “When the Music Stops” and “Superman.” In 2002, Carey seemingly referenced the situation on her song “Clown,” singing, “You should’ve never intimated we were lovers/ When you know very well we never even touched each other.”
In 2006, Eminem reignited the feud on “Jimmy Crack Corn,” which included the lyrics “Your mind’s on us like mine’s on Mariah/ And y’all are just like her, you’re all fucking liars.” He also called out her and then-husband Cannon on “Bagpipes From Baghdad.” Cannon replied to the song in a since-deleted blog post, writing, “I thought we got past the days where white men could spew vulgar obscenities at our beautiful queens and get away with it.”
In 2009, Eminem dropped “The Warning,” a track that completely eviscerated Carey after she dressed up like a joke Shady and mocked him in her “Obsessed” video. “I’m obsessed now? Oh gee, is that supposed to be me in the video with the goatee,” Eminem rapped on the song. “Wow Mariah, I didn’t expect her to go balls out. Bitch, shut the fuck up before I put all them phone calls out you made to my house when you was wild ‘n out before Nick.”
Earlier this year, music producer Damion “Damizza” Young appeared on the “TFU” podcast and discussed working with Carey. He claimed he introduced her to Eminem and recalled the rapper wanting to cast Carey in 8 Mile, released in 2002. He said Eminem wanted her to play his character’s mother despite only being four years older than him. She did not like that shit at all,” Young said. “Her insecurities kicked in big time.” Kim Basinger, who is 19 years older than Eminem, was eventually cast.
