The 'We Belong Together' hitmaker believes her performance at 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest' was sabotaged in an attempt to get higher TV ratings for the ABC broadcast.
- Jan 2, 2017
AceShowbiz - Mariah Carey's performance at "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" was reportedly sabotaged in an attempt to get higher TV ratings for the ABC broadcast. Her manager Stella Bulochnikov sends a letter to Dick Clark Productions, claiming they set up the diva's lip-sync disaster.
"You know her inner ears were NOT working and your entire production team did not set her up to win," Stella writes, "AND MARIAH KEPT TELLING THEM [something was wrong] ON STAGE IN REAL TIME. THEY KEPT IGNORING HER. SHE TOOK A HIT HONORING HER COMMITMENT TO YOU. I SHOULD HAVE PULLED HER OFF THE STAGE THIS IS SABOTAGE."
Mariah's manager concludes the letter by demanding a "formal apology" and threatening legal action if no mea culpa is forthcoming.
Stella tells Page Six that she doesn't believe Dick Clark producers intentionally caused the Mariah's equipment to malfunction, but she thinks the company saw an opportunity when her performance started going south.
"Once things went wrong, they took the decision to keep rolling and make her look like a train wreck for the ratings," she explains, "They owe her a public apology."
Mariah's ear piece started malfunctioning during an interview with Ryan before her show. "Mariah's ear piece wasn't working and she couldn't hear a thing. We told producers three times that her inner ear piece wasn't working. We first told them after she appeared with Ryan Seacrest, when she couldn't hear a thing. then we told them again the inner ear wasn't working when Mariah was in the holding pen waiting to go on stage. Then we told them again when she was on stage," a source shares.
"They kept telling us, 'Don't worry, the earpiece will work when we go live. It will be on a different frequency'. But the ear piece didn't work," the source goes on, "She couldn't hear the music, so she didn't know where she was in the song, and she didn't want to come in on the wrong key. She took her ear piece out in the hope of hearing the music in Times Square, but it was just too loud. All she could hear is the crowd."
The source, adds, "The show was a f***ing production disaster, it was radio f***ing silence in her ears. Mariah was furious but gracious, she did her best in terrible circumstances, and even appeared with Ryan Seacrest after her performance for the ball drop. She didn't storm off. Everybody is blaming Mariah, but Dick Clark productions should take responsibility for that s**t show. They begged her to go on the show, saying, 'The world needs this now.' She cut her vacation short in Aspen to be on the show, she was totally professional, arrived early, and did a sound check. Then they threw her under the bus."
Regardless, it was clear that ratings for the show were good as it drew a 9.0 rating, above NBC's "New Year's Eve with Carson Daly," which only drew a 5.1 rating.
Dick Clark Productions responds to the allegations by releasing a statement, which reads, "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," it continues, "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."
