Mariah Carey Speaks Out About NYE Disaster, Says She Was ‘Mortified’
First and foremost, we should all learn to give Mariah Carey the respect she so clearly deserves. I mean, shit, she’s responsible for both “Always Be My Baby” and “We Belong Together.” RESPECT THAT. A number of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve viewers decided to go all the way in on Mariah for what is still being disputed as a technical issue unrelated to her proven ability as a performer. As Mariah later said on Instagram, “Shit happens.” But what would Dick Clark (R.I.P.) think?
“All I can say is Dick Clark was an incredible person and I was lucky enough to work with him when I first started in the music business,” Mariah said in an exclusive chat with Entertainment Weekly Tuesday. “I’m of the opinion that Dick Clark would not have let an artist go through that and he would have been as mortified as I was in real time.”
Thankfully, real Mariah fans have been standing up for the queen throughout this entire ordeal. “My true fans have been so supportive and I am so appreciative of them and everybody in the media that came out to support me after the fact because it really was an incredible holiday season that turned into a horrible New Year’s Eve,” she told EW.
In a previous statement to Billboard, Mariah’s manager Stella Bulochnikov detailed their side of the story while holding nothing back. “We told them [the stage managers] that the in-ears were not working 10 minutes before the performance,” Bulochnikov said. “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—at which point she pulled them out but could not hear the music over the crowd.”
Dick Clark Productions, however, have maintained that their team “had no involvement” with any alleged technical difficulties.
Days after the live performance, sources told Entertainment Tonight that Mariah has decided to stop working with Anthony Burrell, her longtime creative director and tour choreographer/dancer.
“He’s not being brought back [in 2017] for a number of reasons,” the source told ET, adding that the events on New Year’s Eve played a part in the decision.
Burrell, who also appears on the eight-part docuseries Mariah’s World, reportedly moved the backup singers off the stage to make more room for the dancers. The decision to place them at the base of the risers “left Mariah without any support” to pick up cues.
Burrell and his manager have yet to comment the reported termination.
