Long before her marriage and eventual divorce from Nick Cannon, American singer Mariah Carey lived through a tumultuous marriage to Tommy Mottola.
On September 29, 2020, Mariah Carey, the “Always Be My Baby” singer, released a memoir detailing her whirlwind experience during her first marriage to music mogul, Tommy Mottola.
Despite their 20 years age difference, the twosome developed a connection and ultimately tied the knot in 1993. The marriage lasted five years before its heart-breaking end in 1998.
It took the songstress ten years to find a befitting partner to walk down the aisle again. Her 2008 marriage to actor and comedian, Nick Cannon, ended after eight years. Unlike her first marriage, it yielded two children, her fraternal twins Moroccan and Monroe.
The singer has been linked with other notable personalities since finalizing her divorce in 2016, including James Packer and Bryan Tanaka. However, her relationship with Tommy Mottola, which she described as toxic and tumultuous, had the most impact on the singer.
MARIAH CAREY DISHES ON HER FEELINGS WHILE MARRIED TO TOMMY MOTTOLA
Tommy Mottola became Mariah Carey’s husband shortly after meeting her at a party and locking eyes with her. He signed her into his record, Sony Music, and helped her produce some of her top-charting tracks.
Despite their compatibility career-wise, Maria Carey and Tommy Mottola’s romance was far from perfect. In her memoir, “The Meaning Of Mariah Carey,” the 50-year-old noted that Tommy Mottola never became her prince charming.
Reflecting on their time together in marriage, Carey described being Tommy Mottola’s wife as a “slow and steady march into captivity.”
For years, she felt she was living in an iron-clad dungeon, with the music mogul constantly trying to exert his control over her. Overall, the marriage became tumultuous and too toxic to bear. She needed an escape route.
BONDING WITH DEREK JETER
Mariah Carey eventually found the escape she needed in baseball shortstop, Derek Jeter. She met the baseball star at a dinner and instantly became drawn to him after learning of their shared biracial identities.
The singer detailed in her memoir how they hit it off at once and began exchanging flirtatious gestures. Jeter soon became the “prince charming” figure in her life, and their friendship developed into something bigger.
Carey found herself seeking solace with the athlete, who had become her very good friend. At some point, she started sneaking out of her “dungeon” with the help of her assistant, to hook up with Jeter.
Eventually, their first kiss happened on a rooftop, which later became the inspiration for her song, “The Roof.” Going further, Carey explained how connecting with her newfound friend felt like breaking her bars of captivity.
Gradually, she mustered the courage to appear defiant with Mottola, and eventually, pushed for a divorce despite feeling she was risking her life. Once the former Sony Music executive granted the divorce, she became intimate with Derek Jeter.
DEREK JETER’S ROLE IN MARIAH CAREY’S WHIRLWIND ROMANCE WITH MOTTOLA
At the onset of her romance with Jeter, Carey believed he was her soulmate. Their relationship soon took a lousy turn, eventually leading to a split.
Despite being short-lived, her romance with Jeter played a considerable part in her life. The icon shared details about her connection to Jeter in her book, “The Meaning Of Mariah Carey,” and his contribution to her first marriage.
She described the baseball star as the catalyst she needed to escape Mottola’s crippling control and connect with her sensuality.
“THE MEANING OF MARIAH CAREY” DETAILED CAREY’S POST-DIVORCE STRUGGLES
Tommy Mottola’s stifling control on Mariah Carey did not end after their divorce. It filtered into her professional life, more evident in her 2001 work on “Glitter.”
In her book, Carey detailed how her ex-husband interfered with every step of the film. His anger over the divorce and her exit from Sony Music sent him on a mission to punish her. Through his power, connection, and influence, he strived to stop her success, and the success of her movie, “Glitter.”
Her hardships led her to rehab, before her eventual diagnosis with somatization. Maria Carey described the entire experience as a trip to hell. Luckily, she survived the ordeal and returned “covered in the light of restoration.”
After her encounter with Mottola, Mariah Carey resolved never to let anyone else stop her or “take all my power” ever again.
TOMMY MOTTOLA’S REACTION TO MARIAH CAREY’S MEMOIR
Shortly after the announcement of Mariah Carey’s revealing memoir, Mottola released a statement expressing his sentiments. He shared:
“I am deeply gratified to have played that role in Mariah’s well-deserved and remarkable success. I continue to wish her and her family only the best.”
Before Carey’s revelation about their marriage, Tommy Mottola opened up about their relationship in his 2013 book, “Hitmaker: The Man And His Music.” He referred to their union as “absolutely wrong and inappropriate.”
Over the years, the echoes of their whirlwind romance have helped shape the former couple into accomplished Hollywood veterans.