What Tommy Mottola said about Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs amazed Mariah Carey. Here’s what she said in response.

While Mariah Carey has distanced herself from Sean “Diddy” Combs in recent years, the pair were friendly in the early days of their careers. Carey liked Diddy’s music and openly praised it, even when it caused problems for her. She said that her former husband, Tommy Mottola, made disparaging remarks about Diddy. She said she called Mottola out for his words, describing them as blatantly racist.

Mariah Carey defended Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in a conversation with Tommy Mottola
In the mid-1990s, Carey and Mottola discussed Diddy’s rising career. He had recently formed his own label, Bad Boy, and artists were flocking to work with him. Mottola didn’t think his success would last.

“Tommy had shared his own opinion with me and my nephew Shawn: ‘Puffy will be shining my shoes in two years,’” Carey recalled him saying in her book The Meaning of Mariah Carey. “I was stunned. Wait. What did he say?”

Carey said she rarely stood up to Mottola, as his controlling nature was oppressive and frightening. On this occasion, though, she felt the need to push back against him.

“It was one of the very few times I stood up to Tommy, telling him that what he had said was blatantly racist,” she wrote. “I was pissed.”

In the mid-1990s, Carey and Mottola discussed Diddy’s rising career. He had recently formed his own label, Bad Boy, and artists were flocking to work with him. Mottola didn’t think his success would last.

“Tommy had shared his own opinion with me and my nephew Shawn: ‘Puffy will be shining my shoes in two years,’” Carey recalled him saying in her book The Meaning of Mariah Carey. “I was stunned. Wait. What did he say?”

Carey said she rarely stood up to Mottola, as his controlling nature was oppressive and frightening. On this occasion, though, she felt the need to push back against him.

“It was one of the very few times I stood up to Tommy, telling him that what he had said was blatantly racist,” she wrote. “I was pissed.”

Not long after this, Mottola blew up at Carey over Diddy at a dinner. While they sat at the table, someone asked her what she thought of Diddy’s music.

“The table got quiet as I leaned in and gave my honest assessment: that Puff and Bad Boy were definitely where modern music was headed,” she wrote.

Her response prompted a “tantrum” from Mottola.

“As I was finishing my answer, I saw his eyes flash with familiar rage,” she wrote. “He jumped up from the table and began pacing, huffing and puffing around the restaurant. He was so livid he couldn’t contain himself.”

She said everyone at the table sat in silent shock while Mottola raged around the restaurant.

“Finally, he stormed back,” she wrote. “Still vibrating with rage, he slammed his fist on the table and announced, ‘I just want everybody to know that THANKSGIVING IS CANCELLED!’ Um, okay.”

After Carey and Mottola separated, rumors began to fly that she was romantically involved with Diddy. In an interview with MTV, Carey rolled her eyes when interviewer Tabitha Soren asked if they should go find Diddy. She sarcastically referred to him as her boyfriend before putting the rumor to rest.