Mariah Carey is opening up about her past marriage to Tommy Mottola, reflecting on her complex feelings and how she’s learned to cope with them.
In an interview for the September 2025 issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, the 56-year-old singer revealed that humor has been her way of dealing with the anger and pain related to their relationship.
Mariah Carey Reflects on Her Marriage to Tommy Mottola
Carey spoke about how she sometimes still feels angry about her marriage to Mottola, which lasted from 1993 to 1998. She said:
“Sometimes I feel angry about that time, but I think I’ve made peace with it — in any case, I vowed I’d stop talking about it.”
Despite the anger, Carey has learned to cope by using humor:
“Humor is my release, and people who know me know that. I’ll make little jokes about what happened because otherwise, I could make every day a sob story.”
For Carey, humor is a coping mechanism, allowing her to laugh instead of constantly dwelling on the negative feelings tied to that part of her life.
The Struggles of Making Music During the Marriage
During her marriage to Mottola, Carey faced some professional struggles, particularly when it came to her musical direction. She said that whenever she wanted to explore R&B or more urban music, her ideas were shot down.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t like the music I was making – I just felt there was more inside me that I wanted to release,” she explained.
Mariah Carey on Feeling Like a ‘Prisoner’ During the Marriage
Carey has spoken before about how she felt restricted during the marriage. In a 2019 interview with Cosmopolitan, she described her time with Mottola as being very controlled and compared it to being a prisoner.
“There was no freedom for me as a human being. It was almost like being a prisoner,” she said.
Tommy Mottola’s Perspective
In his 2013 memoir, Hitmaker: The Man and His Music, Mottola reflected on their marriage, explaining that a key moment in their relationship was when Carey didn’t win at the 1996 Grammy Awards.
She was nominated for six awards, including Album of the Year for Daydream and Record of the Year for “One Sweet Day.” Mottola believed that this moment destroyed their relationship.
Mottola also wrote about how Carey referred to their home in Bedford, New York, as “Sing Sing”, comparing it to the famous prison. He claimed that Carey felt trapped in their mansion, especially when it came to the pressure to constantly sing in the studio she designed herself.
Moving Forward: Mariah’s New Album
Mariah Carey is now focusing on her career and personal growth. She is set to release her new album, Here for It All, on September 26, with two songs, “Type Dangerous” and “Sugar Sweet”, already available.
