The New York Post outlines the new memoir by music executive Tommy Mottola, which details his abuse and control of ex-wife Mariah Carey. The music mogul tries to justify his poor treatment of the singer with statements that he played a large role in her success.
Mimi was just 18-years-old when he took her under his wing, and pledged to make her bigger than Madonna and Michael Jackson.
He controlled all of her producers and songwriters, disallowed her chosen collaborators and forced her to record albums she didn’t want to. When she expressed an interest in catering her music to the younger, hip-hop and R&B crowd, he shut that down too. When she vented her frustrations that he was trying to turn her into 50′s singer Connie Francis, he wrote that he nearly laughed in her face, asking “does she even know who Connie Francis is?” Mottola excuses his actions with a quote directly from his memoir: “If it seemed like I was controlling, I apologize. Was I obsessive? Yes. But that was also part of the reason for her success.”
What an asshole. No one can deny he was a guiding force in her career. However, the ways in which he controlled her were truly despicable. You don’t treat someone like that just because you feel YOU made their careers. After their divorce in 1997, he took to sabotaging her career and aggressively plotted her downfall. She deserved so much better because she too was lining HIS pockets. They had a business partnership so the respect should have been mutual.
The book is set to hit stores on January 15th – one day ahead of the singer’s televised debut on American Idol.
