Mariah Carey has released her memoirs and the book is a shocker.
The Meaning of Mariah Carey was published on Tuesday and reveals her personal struggles growing up in poverty in a violent household, her experiences of racism, her music career, her marriages and much more.
Co-written with Michaela Angela Davis, Mariah, 50, makes the following revelations:
She details her upbringing in her violent home where “objects would go flying and holes punched in walls”.
She says: “By the time I was a toddler, I had developed the instincts to sense when violence was coming.”
Growing up with a multiracial family – a black father and a white mother – she faced many racial encounters.
She recounts the moment a teacher laughing at her, saying: “Oh, Mariah, you used the wrong crayon,” when, aged four, she drew her father with brown skin.”
Also revisited was the traumatic sleepover where a group of girls locked her in a bedroom, repeatedly shouting “ni*ger” at her.
The singer believes she was at risk of being pimped by her sister. At 12, she says she was tricked into spending a night alone with the boyfriend of her older sister, Alison.
They spent time playing cards and went to a movie drive-in where he “immediately placed his arms around her”. Despite being threatened with a gun, she managed to later escape.
While owing much of her music career’s success to first husband Tommy Mottola – whom she married in 1993 – the music boss was controlling and ‘n jaloers bokkie.
In 1996, Mariah recorded a song with rapper Da Brat at her private home studio where they afterwards decided to grab a dite at Burger King. Tommy went mal and called for an armed search party.
Mariah also slept with a “to go” bag under her bed, which was “filled with essentials” just in case she had to make “a quick escape.”
She also believes her marriage to Nick Cannon could have worked if it wasn’t for their egos and emotions.