Mariah Carey Slept with 10 Humidifiers around Her & Claimed She Doesn’t Know Jlo: Singer’s Diva Moments

• Before a show, Mariah Carey can chat, but not verbally.
• More than one former employee has sued the multi-Grammy Award winner
• The singer has explained what she meant when implying she does not know Jennifer Lopez.

Mariah Carey is a diva. Full stop. This title is backed up by many demanding, quirky, and downright outrageous incidents caught on camera and admitted to by the superstar herself.

These idiosyncrasies only make her more beloved because of her incredible talent and because she is all about her fans, her Lams or Lambilys, as she refers to her fandom. Some of the lure around her diva stature has also been widely exaggerated.

Primarily, Carey is a diva because she recognizes her talent and worth beyond all else. Asked who she would like to collaborate with by Buzzfeed in 2015, she said:

"I want to collaborate with me 'cause I've done so many collaborations that after a certain point, unless you're really working with a certain caliber of an artist, there's no point [to collaborate]."

She cemented the sentiment by naming "All I Want for Christmas Is You," her hit, as her favorite holiday tune. But she concedes that it is not the best vocal performance that she has done.

Yet, one of her favorite memories framed in her house is with other iconic female performers. Moments like "Divas Live" and sharing the stage with Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross are career highlights that adorn her walls.

In her TriBeCa penthouse, as seen on her infamous episode of MTV Cribs in 2002, she has a "Butterfly Fan Room." With a soft spot for butterflies, the singer decorated her guest room with them in honor of her fans and kept scrapbooks of their mail in the space.

In the same episode, she demonstrated her home gym by going on the equipment in high heels. She repeated the exercise in 2017 by posting content of her in fishnets and stiletto Puma booties in the gym. She has reportedly said that her feet repel flat shoes.

Mariah Carey Might Not Be the Easiest Boss

Ahead of her 2016 reality show on E!, "Mariah's World," an executive of the network, Jeff Olde, revealed, "She cannot speak the day before a performance." He elaborated:

"She knows exactly what she wants, but she has to communicate through writing or sign language, and it's a sort of a joke within her group because she has to preserve her voice."

Viewers got a firsthand account of what it takes to be part of Carey's "group" in an episode of the show. Her manager, Stella Bulochnikov, told a member of the team that it is "an abusive job," explaining:

"A personal assistant has to anticipate someone's needs. A personal assistant has to wait by the door and have the sunglasses and the shoes ready."

The singer calls on four staff members to help her put on a pair of shoes later in the episode. Bulochnikov, later let go by the performer, sued her but ended up dropping the suit. Mimi won a countersuit.

Carey called out a backup singer on live TV in another wild moment. While performing "Touch My Body" on "Good Morning America" in 2008, she adlibbed the line "Stop singing my part now, baby," throwing a look at a backup singer.

But the "We Belong Together" singer is not just demanding on those who work directly for her; her performance rider is said to be very specific. One rumor involved her requiring 100 doves in her rider while on tour. Then there's the case at the White House.

It was a high honor for Carey to perform at Barack Obama's inauguration in 2008. Rumors swirled that she hastily left the event with her then-husband Nick Cannon when she found out she was not seated with the new first family.

However, her representative clarified this, explaining: "When she and Nick arrived in their section, she was surrounded by fans, but unfortunately, it caused too much of a ruckus, and it became a little unsafe. She was then escorted to safety by police."

Maria Burgues, who claimed to have worked for the star between 2017 and 2018, said in 2019 that she was not treated or paid fairly when nannying Carey's kids. But the singer's rep told TMZ, "This is a legally and factually baseless claim that will be defended with vigor."

Does Mariah Carey Really Not Know Who Jennifer Lopez Is?

Some reasons touted as diva behavior have been given without its full context, such as her sleeping with ten humidifiers. During her residency in Las Vegas in the mid-2010s, the dry desert air made her "obsessed" with humidifiers. She admitted in an interview, "I literally have, like, 10 humidifiers around my bed."

Andy Cohen addressed another example on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" in mid-2016. Carey has implied that she does not know Jennifer Lopez.

The supposed shade against the Latina superstar occurred in the 2000s. In an interview in which she was discussing a friendship with another performer, she was asked about Lopez. She reportedly replied that she did not know her.

She has leaned into this statement by holding up a sign on Buzzfeed that states, "I do not know her," and responding to a TMZ journalist's question on the matter in passing,

"I still do not know her."

Carey admitted to Cohen that she can be very forgetful but gave an emphatic "No!" to his blunt question, "Do you know her?" She explained that while they might have been introduced in the past, she does not consider knowing someone if they had not had a conversation.

She clarified that she had been answering a question about Beyoncé at the time, someone she considers "super talented" and a friend. When asked about J.Lo, she merely stated that she did not know her. Carey elaborated:

"It wasn't like I didn't know who she is; of course I do; that was not the question."

In conclusion, for aspiring divas, Mariah Carey's number one selfie tip is, "Get the proper angle and the best lighting that you can." And she loves a good filter.