Mariah Carey Opens Up About Lingering Emotions From Past Marriage: 'Angry'

Mariah Carey still harbors complex feelings about her marriage to Tommy Mottola, 27 years after their divorce.

During a recent interview with Harper’s Bazaar UK, the "Fantasy" icon spoke about how she copes with lingering traces of "anger" surrounding their relationship.

"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. People who know me know that. I’ll make little jokes about what happened because, otherwise, I could make every day a sob story. It’s a coping mechanism, but it’s in my nature to laugh."

According to People, Carey and Mottola, the former CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, started dating in 1991 and tied the knot in 1993 when the songstress was in her early 20s and Mottola was 43. The "Obsessed" hitmaker also touched on creative differences they experienced during their union. 

"I wanted to do more R&B, more urban music, and any time I would bring that up, it would get 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."

In a 2019 interview with Cosmopolitan, Carey explained that their marriage was "very controlled" and that she had "no freedom."

"You might want to picture a child bride. There was a conscious effort to keep me as this all-American, whatever that means, girl. It was very ­controlled. There was no ­freedom for me as a human being. It was almost like being a prisoner."

Though, as we know, nothing can stop the legendary Mariah Carey! Nearly 30 years later, she continues to release music that holds a special place in her heart and is gearing up to release a new album, Here For It All, in September!

For more on the upcoming record, read Mariah Carey Is 'Here For It All' As She Announces New Album.