Mariah Carey “gets real” with the UK’s Observer Woman Magazine for a revealing interview that showcases the other side of the diva. Check out snippets below.
On her role in Precious:
“I spent as much time as I could getting into it,” Carey says. “She is supposed to be exhausted, so it didn’t matter that I stayed up… I really did the best I could to morph into this woman who goes into this office every day and deals with people needing something from her, trying to get things from her, maybe being disingenuous.”On her insecurity:
“I am very insecure about my looks, and I always have been because of being mixed race [Carey's mother is Irish-American and her father was an African-American of Venezuelan descent]. It’s not so weird now, and everyone’s accepting it in a big way, but as a child I felt very, um, out of place and didn’t feel pretty. So taking on that character and having Lee make me older in the way he did, I guess it was freeing because I didn’t have to try in any way to look pretty, and you know, when you grow up with that type of insecurity you don’t always feel pretty.”
On her family:
“I don’t want to go into my family stuff, but there were very difficult things that took place. I think certain people like to torture me because they think I’ve had it easier than I actually have and they think: ‘Oh, she’s got this, she’s got that, she’s always had everything perfect’ and it’s sooo not true. You know, I really relate to this movie in a lot of ways.”On her racial identity:
“Usually the black community knew that I was black, but white people didn’t always – they hadn’t always experienced being around people who were half-black, half-white and who looked more white. My mum’s very, very Irish and my father was light-skinned, so I turned out the way I turned out.”On whether she still experiences racism:
“Yes. It’ll be a mild thing that I’ll get over, but a friend said to me the other day: ‘Oh yeah, you’ll like her –she’s like you, she’s got a black husband’ [Carey married the 28-year-old actor Nick Cannon last year]. And I’m like: ‘How many times do I have to tell you – my father was black. My mother’s white. In this country that makes you black, do you understand? I know I’m very light-skinned, but stop doing that!’ It’s one of those things that the world doesn’t quite understand. When I first came to Europe, everybody was asking me: ‘Why do you always have black people in your music videos?’ And I was like, errm, how do I answer this one?”
first. go mimi
yoo!!!! i fken h.a.t.e this gurll UGHHHHHH i thiink she soo uglyy!!!!
I love Mariah! She is a LEGEND period! (If you dont agree, who the fuck cares!)
SHE’S BEAUTIFUL. IVE ALWAYS THOUGHT SO FROM THE FIRST TIME I SAW HER IN THE VISION OF LOVE VIDEO. AND THAT VOICE/ LYRICAL CONTENT!!!!! …. SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!
y’know i’m not really a fan of mariah’s but that’s when i like her best, au naturel…nice and simple
B*tch please..
Mariah is a true talent one of the best singers of all time.
Come on CL.. these popups are annoying.. Like I was saying before I got cut off
I remember that BS Essence cover a while back with the headline something like “The Most Misunderstood Black Woman” Mariah is black when she need/want to be..
Funny how she’s black after Tommy Mottola, Luis Miguel ( which is why she went cuckoo), Derek Jeter all dumped that ass..Mariah know she ain’t never had no time for black folks
I remember her not really claiming to be black first but I guess now shes learning.
@ #2 as if Mariah would give a shit if you dont like her. Look where she is and look where you are! A damn nobody lol Then your dumbass took the time to comment but you hate her, damn idiot.
love this girl, if you think she’s not the truth…listen to…..
1. Mine Again
2. Fly like a bird
3. Thanks for Nothing, You ain’t *&^ boy
4. I Wish You Well
5. Vision of Love
6. We Belong Together.
7. All Alone in Love
8. All i Ever Wanted is You
9. So Cold
10. The Wind
11. Love You Until the End of Time
12. Angels Cry
13. Someday, the one you gave away will be the only one ur wish 4
14. Betcha Gon Know
and then COME for her. You Can’t. She’s a LEGEND
Lord! This bitch looks old!
Mariah is my favorite singer….everyone know she’s Black… this is not the first interview she had to prove her blackness it’s 2010 people get over it.
wow. i really look up to her now. im 14 && ive been experiencing racism since i was in elementary school because of the color of my skin. my mom is mixed with white && black && my dad is black. i look more white than black && i always got tortured for it. i always wondered if she went through that too && im glad to see that she knows how i feel. i love mariah carey!!
Why does Mariah feel she has to reiterate that she is part Black. No one cares!! You are still ugly. She is not cute.
Lol @ her thinking her role in Precious was something.
And my favorite male celeb is Nick Cannon I would do anything for him. I would even let him pee on me !!
Thanks J Dakar …
Good old America and the one drop rule…smh
mariah carey is confused.
ehh she’s not pretty to me. when she was younger, she was much prettier-idk if it was the hair or the youth but her mouth area is weird. and i think it’s funny that she claimed her blackness when it benefited her to do so
There are a bunch of hateful self defecating little monsters on this post. Get a life and try to be positive. I love Mariah for being honest. Kudos.
I see that they’ve since corrected the fact that her father is “Africa American” but OF Venezuelan descent. ….I read an article back in the day and it was almost as if they wanted her to identify with South American/Spanish descent and not African American at all…. It’s not that I want her to say, “Oh, I am Black, all Black” I just would like her to stop using it as a convenience – as a commentor said earlier..
btw, this pic is naturally beautiful- I like ker best, this to me is vunerable beauty
Also, I’d like to think that her role in Precious gave us a different side her, beyond “Glitter”- I appreciate cha, Mariah
How is it convenient to claim you’re black? If anything it was people who didn’t bother to do their research and find out her background to know that she was. Just like when she first came out and there was an article written about her that was called “Another White Girl Trying to Sing Black.” Mariah has never said she wasn’t black. She has been saying it since the beginning. Here is a video of her on BET (yes, she was on BET back then) when she had just released her second single and they even asked her then at the end if she was white or black.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_fesQ8ExpA
Mariah looks soo much better without tons of makeup, she needs to stick with the look on the cover. And I think its great that she addresses the issue of race/identity; how many people look up to her who have also suffered racism.
Its funny how we treat legends when they’re alive and fail to acknowledge their greatness.
She’s talented, she went thru a lot… I think she could do amazing things with just these two facts instead of playing the sexy candy girl. She’s worth more than that. But anyway… the one drop rule is ridiculous. If you’re half black, half white, what make you choose blackness over whiteness?
The world is not divided between black and white, thanks for shades of grey !!!
Mariah’s Pushing 40, People Can’t Really Expect Her To Look ANy Younger. People Expect Everything To Be The Same, Gosh, This Woman Has Been Making Hit’s For 20 Years. Let’s Not Forget She Has The Song Of The Decade “We Belong Together” People Who Are Nobody Always Got Something To Say About Somebody, Hater’s Are Nothing, Mariah’s A Legend!
Thank you RJJ12…she’s never denied her background as far as race…
Backingbarack perhaps the journalist asked her about it.
Oooops on the race thing. Isn’t this old (or maybe just the pic)?
I’m mixed and this bitch is not someone I would look up to since she’s a damn liar. When she first came on the NY scene doing clubs UNSIGNED she told ppl she was italian and not black. In fact she made it very clear to correct someone when they said “but you sing like you have black in you.” Now this kinda goes with the story she used when she got signed by telling people she was white and her dad was black italian but now she’s white and venezuelan? Bitch make up your mind. In fact how about you stop fucking lying and admit your white so you can stop exploiting black people.
INSECURE …Oh My – WE thought she was Different – Suppose NOT – Appreciate her Honesty though.
Have a Terrific Tuesday PEOPLE!
Mariah COVERS??? – What Is that Supposed to mean???
Now I remember when I first saw her on the front page of my newspaper in new jersey and the headline read: NOT JUST ANOTHER WHITE GIRL TRYING TO SOUND BLACK….Now I have family members who favor her as far as looks go but they definetly will tell you up front before you get it twisted that they are Liberian American even if there is parts that show more than others. 10-12 years ago in my high school spanish book it had a pic of Mariah and under said soy venezuelean
and I was like wow…one minute she white and black now she is hispanic….and not just half but I found that strange but not that strange since once that whole “latin explosion ” ish everyone was all of a sudden some parts of latino…..
I don’t dislike her but I find it strange how nobody says squat when one minute she with tommy mattola then Luis Miguel(aka man whore of mexico) durong the “explosion” only to be cheated on by a look a like…to denying eminem(though i dont blame her for that one…) to Nick Canon…..
I like her music but I don’t like the sometimey- ness of her …where when itis benefiting to her to be something…..and how she says she was made to look older fotr the movie…honey please, before the movie came out lee daniels stated on the monique show that he wanted you all natural not with the glam squad and what not… either way you are beautiful and don’t forget that baby girl…
It amazes me how everyone can make a bunch of nasty comments about someone like Mariah Carey, but people get bashed for speaking their mind on talentless or bubblegum artists like Ciara, Rihanna, and Beyonce. I really can’t believe all of the hypercritical bastasrds on here! This happens every time, even when Mariah comes out with a crappy video or horrid clothing, everyone is “allowed” to bash her but when it comes to those celebs named up above; people get stupid “hater” comments. People really need to grow up!
Anyway, I’m glad that she addressed this because when Christina Aguilera called Mariah out for kicking her out her party, people were comparing the two and mentioned how Mariah was only 25% black while Christina Aguilera was 50% Latina. What dumba**es, LATINA CAN BE FULL WHITE PEOPLE BORN IN SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES AND LATINA CAN BE BLACK PEOPLE TOO! Mariah has and always will be half black and I don’t understand why blacks tease her for it.
It amazes me how everyone can make a bunch of nasty comments about someone like Mariah Carey, but people get bashed for speaking their mind on talentless or bubblegum artists like Ciara, Rihanna, and Beyonce. I really can’t believe all of the hypercritical bast**ds on here! This happens every time, even when Mariah comes out with a crappy video or horrid clothing, everyone is “allowed” to bash her but when it comes to those celebs named up above; people get stupid “hater” comments. People really need to grow up!
Anyway, I’m glad that she addressed this because when Christina Aguilera called Mariah out for kicking her out her party, people were comparing the two and mentioned how Mariah was only 25% black while Christina Aguilera was 50% Latina. What dumb***es, LATINA CAN BE FULL WHITE PEOPLE BORN IN SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES AND LATINA CAN BE BLACK PEOPLE TOO! Mariah has and always will be half black and I don’t understand why blacks tease her for it.
Go MiMi…be you…we all love you!
I don’t know why when I look at that pic above, i think of Michael Jackson
That’s it Mariah when all else fails play the Tragic mullato card!
*Hi-Fives #15…
Thats what i;m saying ova here! Why does she feel the need to inform us that she is “Part” black? So what does she think this adds to her level of “Blackness”..does she think she’ll get some fu*ken prize?? Just STFU Mariah and go sit your dizzy azz down somewhere. Now all of a sudden err’body wanna be Black!..smh..
No real Black person teases Mariah the only ones who do are the stupid, insecure Hispanic bitches who come on Black blogs when Mariah appears th claim she is Hispanic when the woman clearly stated she isn’t and does not want to be associated with you so leave her the hell alone. Mariah is a Black woman and has gone through many issues because of her looks, I’m biracial so I can relate. Mariah embraces her white and Black half, her African American culture the entire bit and she has nothing more to prove.
MARIAH ISN’T LATINA AT ALL STUPID! AND NO ONE CALLED HER OUT FOR SAYING SHE WAS 25% BLACK BECAUSE MARIAH NEVER SAID THAT:
PUERTO RICANS/CUBANS ARE NOT LATIN/LATINO OR HISPANIC OR SPANISH.
THE ONLY REAL LATINS ARE WHITE PEOPLE DESCENDED FROM ANCIENT LATIN PEOPLE…(ITALIANS, PORTUGUESE, WHITE SPANIARDS) ETC…
IF YOU ARE NOT WHITE YOU CAN NOT BE “LATIN” ETHNICALLY!
PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED ABOUT RACE, ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY. THESE THREE THINGS ARE SEPARATE THINGS.
We all know and accept Mariah. She knows who she is and so do we and the only people who still have problems with her are the stupid, insecure Hispanics. You just have to laugh at them and shake your heads. Believe me, Xtina only talks about being 50% Hispanic when it suits her needs. She would never marry a Hispanic guy in a million years.
NATIONALITY= What Nation You Belong To “CITIZENSHIP”
If I was a citizen of China I would have a CHINESE NATIONALITY.
This is INDEPENDENT OF MY CULTURE OR SKIN COLOR< FACIAL FEATURES ETC…
Read Mariah’s last papragraph…is says it all!!
Mariah Carey is an American citizen. Her culture is African-American. Her parents (in her own words) “My father was black and my mother is white”, she doesn’t have to prove her race and culture to anyone else. If other people are too insecure and dumb to understand what she is saying that is their own fault.
who effin cares? the woman said she’s black, id’s with her white mother as well. over and done. dam, it doesnt change her beautiful voice or legendary status. get over this same pointless discussion.
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Mariah was on George Lopez the other day and cleared up that her Dad’s grandparent was Venezuelan, she’s an eighth Hispanic.
You cannot be 18th of a Nationality stupid. I saw the video Mariah stated she was black even with that fool Lopez trying to pressure her to admit to being Hispanic which is too funny to even think about.
#39,41,42 YOU ARE RIGHT! I don’t care what magazine put her on the cover she has been on the cover of countless A.American magazines because that is where she belongs.
Mariah has stated who she is and nothing will ever change that. She married a white Italian and now she is with an A.American man…case closed.
Ahhh, so that explains why she’s always trying to portray a sex kitten, wearing those young azz clothes…
Wow…the village idiots always scream the loudest! You can be nasty and hateful all you want but you can’t stop her! She’s resilient and has faced worse than brain dead commenters on a blog!
Anyway, I Love You Mariah! Stay happy and true to yourself! I’ll always support you!
In high school she wouldn’t dare claim to be black. She was passing for Italian and had only white friends. She was ashamed of her black father and when travelling in the car with him she would duck down in the seat, so that her WHITE friends wouldn’t see her in the car with a black man. UNFORGIVABLE. A TRUE IMITATION OF LIFE. Bleaching her skin and trying to look as white as possible while singing black. BItch please! The only reason why she’s claiming black is because her white husband was calling her the N word when she pissed him off and her white husband, boyfriends and white people don’t fully accept her. She had to learn the hard way. that black is beautfiul and we are the original people descended from queens and kings and we don’t age fast. I bet she wish she was full black now that she’s not so aging gracefully.
In high school she wouldn’t dare claim to be black. She was passing for Italian and had only white friends. She was ashamed of her black father and when travelling in the car with him she would duck down in the seat, so that her WHITE friends wouldn’t see her in the car with a black man. UNFORGIVABLE. A TRUE IMITATION OF LIFE. Bleaching her skin and trying to look as white as possible while singing black. BItch please! The only reason why she’s claiming black is because her white husband was calling her the N word when she pissed him off and her white husband, boyfriends and white people don’t fully accept her. She had to learn the hard way. that black is beautfiul and we are the original people descended from queens and kings and we don’t age fast. I bet she wish she was full black now that she’s not so aging gracefully.
In high school she wouldn’t dare claim to be black. She was passing for Italian and had only white friends. She was ashamed of her black father and when travelling in the car with him she would duck down in the seat, so that her WHITE friends wouldn’t see her in the car with a black man. UNFORGIVABLE. A TRUE IMITATION OF LIFE. Bleaching her skin and trying to look as white as possible while singing black. BItch please! The only reason why she’s claiming black is because her white husband was calling her the N word when she pissed him off and her white husband, boyfriends and white people don’t fully accept her. She had to learn the hard way. that black is beautfiul and we are the original people descended from queens and kings and we don’t age fast. I bet she wish she was full black now that she’s not so aging gracefully.
I remember back in the 90′s she was white. Sandra Bernard told the damn truth about her lying ass. Now the bitch lying and saying that her dad was light-skinned and judging by the pictures I saw he’s dark-skinned like Beyonce’s dad I’m light-skinned and he don’t come close. At the mature age of forty she’s still struggling to come to grips with having a black father and by making him lighter to the white public it eases her sting of being black. This woman is pititful.
Her family went through a lot of racist mess when she was growing up so I understand why she identified herself that way. People will do things to alleviate the pain of discrimination. That was then this is now. Mariah has grown up emotionally and now fully accepts herself. If others still cling to the ole Mariah with the problems that’s there fault. Mariah doesn’t have to answer to you. She has evolved and is comfortable with herself nowadays and relaxed about her place in the world. She will always have haters who will not let go, too bad, your hate won’t change a thing. Mariah has come into her own.
I don’t ever remember her claiming she was a black woman, because technically she is not. She stated herself that she is mixed raced!! any everyone cannot be black. We are the only race that will accept any and everybody. If Mariah Carey says she is not black, how does that affect your community. If tiger would say he is “cablasian” how does he affect your life. NOTE TO BLACK PEOPLE: mind your business and stop trying to make everybody claim they are black!
I agree with you Chloe.
Like other people above said, she brings up her racial identity when it is convenient for her and as a publicity gimmick and I’m just sick of her. SHE is the one always bringing up race not other people. She uses it as a ploy to make people feel bad for her…If she truly were “emancipated” like she says she is, she’d quit talking about her racial identity so much. But she very much enjoys playing the modern day tragic mulatto role and that’s sad.