The fallout over Mariah Carey‘s chaotic New Year’s Eve performance continues as her team claims the singer was sabotaged in an attempt to get higher TV ratings for the ABC broadcast.
“I will never know the truth, but I do know that we told them three times that her mic pack was not working and it was a disastrous production,” Carey’s manager, Stella Bulochnikov, told Us Weekly on Sunday, January 1. “I’m certainly not calling the FBI to investigate. It is what it is: New Year’s Eve in Times Square. Mariah did them a favor. She was the biggest star there and they did not have their s‑‑t together.”
Bulochnikov added that she was “furious” with TV executive Michael Schimmel and the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve production company, Dick Clark Productions.
“They acknowledged that they knew her inner ears were not working,” she said. “They did not cut to a commercial. They did not cut to the West Coast feed; they left her out there to get ratings.”
As Us Weekly previously reported, the Grammy winner’s performance, which took place just before the ball dropped in Times Square, was a mess as Carey apparently couldn’t hear the backing track and gave up on trying to sing along with her hits “Emotion” and “We Belong Together.” (Watch the much talked-about performance in the video above.)
The singer later took to Twitter to declare “S‑‑t happens,” and her rep told Us that “there was a production issue and technical difficulties.”
A source tells Us that emails were sent to Dick Clark Productions on Sunday, “asking why they are suspiciously silent and let Mariah take all of the hits today when they are responsible for the mess.”
The source also confirms that her team “did call it sabotage.”
Dick Clark Productions responded to the allegations in a statement to Us on Sunday night: “As the premier producer of live television events for nearly 50 years, we pride ourselves on our reputation and long-standing relationships with artists. To suggest that DCP, as producer of music shows including the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and Academy of Country Music Awards, would ever intentionally compromise the success of any artist is defamatory, outrageous and frankly absurd. In very rare instances there are of course technical errors that can occur with live television, however, an initial investigation has indicated that DCP had no involvement in the challenges associated with Ms. Carey’s New Year’s Eve performance. We want to be clear that we have the utmost respect for Ms. Carey as an artist and acknowledge her tremendous accomplishments in the industry.”
