Mariah Carey’s Team Says Singer Was ‘Sabotaged’ for Ratings on New Year’s Eve

by Madelyn Chung

2017 is definitely off to a dramatic start for Mariah Carey (though really, would we expect anything less from Mimi?).

After a less-than-rockin’ performance during “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve With Ryan Seacrest” on Dec. 31st, the 46-year-old songstress’ team is now in a heated feud with Dick Clark Productions regarding who was really at fault for the disastrous lip-syncing fiasco.

According to TMZ, Carey’s team claims DCP “sabotaged” the singer in order to get ratings, neglecting to fix her earpiece, despite multiple complaints that it wasn’t working.

“We told [the stage managers] that the in-ears were not working 10 minutes before the performance,” Mariah’s manager, Stella Bulochnikov, said in a statement to Billboard.

“They then changed the battery pack, and they were still not working on the frequency four minutes before the show. We let them know again, and they just kept counting her down and reassuring her that they will work as soon as they go live, which never happened.”

Bulochnikov also blamed ABC for airing the botched performance on the West Coast, even though she asked for it to be cut.

“After the show, I called [Dick Clark Productions’] Mark Shimmel and I said, ‘What the f–k happened?’ He said, ‘Let me call you back,’ then called me back and confirmed the in-ears were not working and asked if I would make a joint statement. I said, ‘No way,'” Stella told Billboard.

“I asked him to cut the West Coast feed. He said he could not do that. I asked him why would they want to run a performance with mechanical glitches unless they just want eyeballs at any expense … It’s not artist-friendly, especially when the artist cut her vacation short as a New Year’s Eve gift to them.”

“She should have walked off and thrown the mic at somebody’s head — that would have been a great moment,” she added.

Getting ready for the ball drop on @officialNYRE! Are you watching, #Lambily? #rockineve @ryanseacrest

A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on

However, DCP fired back at the claims, calling them “defamatory” and released the following statement:

“As the premier producer of live television events for nearly 50 years, we pride ourselves on our reputation and long-standing relationships with artists. To suggest that DCP, as producer of music shows including the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and Academy of Country Music Awards, would ever intentionally compromise the success of any artist is defamatory, outrageous and frankly absurd.

“In very rare instances there are of course technical errors that can occur with live television, however, an initial investigation has indicated that DCP had no involvement in the challenges associated with Ms. Carey’s New Year’s Eve performance. We want to be clear that we have the utmost respect for Ms. Carey as an artist and acknowledge her tremendous accomplishments in the industry.”

As for Mimi? She’s taking it all in stride, and just “ignoring” it all.

“She’s got so may more important things to do,” Bulochnikov told Entertainment Weekly.

Well, at least she’s making those headlines!

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