Mariah Carey Say This Shady Act Is What Started Her Feud With Jennifer Lopez

For the past two decades, Mariah Carey has thrown some major shade Jennifer Lopez‘s way by claiming she “doesn’t know her.”

While some people believed that the singers just never had the chance to get formally acquainted with one another, it turns out that there is a reason why Mimi has always failed to acknowledge J.Lo existence all these years — and it has to do with her ex-husband, sabotage, and a sample of music.

Mariah Carey has always given Jennifer Lopez the cold shoulder

There have been many incredible celebrity disses that have happened throughout the years.

From Rihanna saying Diplo’s music sounds “like a reggae song at an airport” to Drake asking Meek Mill: “Is that a world tour, or your girl’s tour?,” there have been many shady comments A-listers have geared toward fellow celebs.

But, the most iconic — and enduring — shade of all time was when Carey claimed she didn’t know Jennifer Lopez.

The unforgettable moment took place in the early 2000s when paparazzi asked the “Always Be My Baby” hitmaker what she thought of the Maid in Manhattan actor.

After hearing the question, Mimi shook her head and simply answered: “I don’t know her.” 

She then gave the same answer again in 2016 when she told TMZ, “I still don’t know [Lopez],” despite the actor later claiming on TV that they’d met “many times” and “she’s forgetful, I guess.”

After that, no one really knew why Carey always failed to acknowledge Lopez’s existence. While some assumed it was just her over the top diva-ish-ness showing, it was later revealed that the pop icon actually had some ill-feelings toward the former In Living Color Flygirl.

Now, Mimi has come forward with the real reason why she’s always given J.Lo the cold shoulder — and claims her ex-husband and Sony Music boss, Tommy Mottola, is to blame.

In her newly released memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the pop diva details how Mottola tried to sabotage her career by giving a sample she planned to use in her 2001 track “Loverboy” to “another female entertainer on their label (whom I don’t know).”

Mariah Carey hints that J. Lo was the one who Mottola gave her sample to

According to Carey, the drama between herself, Mottola, and Lopez took place after she and the record executive divorced in 1998, around the time her semi-autobiographical film Glitter was released.

“Much of what went wrong with Glitter led back to Tommy. He was angry about the divorce and my departure from Sony, and he used all his power and connections to punish me,” she wrote in her memoir.

Carey claimed that Mottola “and his cronies” messed with her promotional products in record stores for the album and “interfered with the Glitter soundtrack.”

Now here’s where Lopez comes in.

The singer claims that after her ex-husband got wind her choosing to use Yellow Magic Orchestra’s 1978 song “Firecracker” on the film’s lead single, “Loverboy,” he and Sony Music rushed to use the sample in another female singer’s song.

And sure enough, the sample of “Firecracker” showed up on Lopez’s — who’s career was being guided by Mottola at the time — 2001 single “I’m Real” off of her second album.

“That did not go unnoticed by Sony executives (and spies),” she pens. “After hearing my new song, using the same sample I used, Sony rushed to make a single for another female entertainer on their label (whom I don’t know).”

Though the hitmaker didn’t mention Lopez by name, it’s pretty evident that she was referencing the actor seeing as she used her now-infamous “I don’t know her” comment.

Where do Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez currently stand with each other?

Though none of this is new information, it did cause controversy at the time and has always been credited as the source of Carey and Lopez’s feud.

While it remains unclear if the pop icons have since put their rivalry to rest, it seems the “Fantasy” singer has since moved on from the drama and considers her issues with Mottola and Lopez a thing of the past.

“And after all that sh*t, “Loverboy” ended up being the best-selling single of 2001 in the United States,” the songbird ended her chapter while declaring, “I’m real.”