Somebody please grab a roll of paper towels, because Mariah Carey's former choreographer just spilled some serious tea.
Now, before we get into this, let me give a BIG FAT DISCLAIMER: Mariah Carey is a legend, she's very talented, and she deserves our respect. Haters close the tab!!!
But lately, people have been noticing that her performances seem a little...off.
It's not like she has to be some incredible dancer — she's always been a vocalist first. But sometimes it looks like she's not even trying anymore, and it has many a Mariah stan worried.
Mariah Carey really two performances away from just taking a nap on stage
So Complex interviewed her former choreographer and creative director, Anthony Burrell, to see what he had to say on the matter. And...well, he did not hold back.
Burrell, who was fired in the wake of Mariah's disastrous New Year's Eve performance this year, kinda dragged the pop icon right off the bat:
It's just typical Mariah. Mariah is clear: When she doesn’t wanna do something, she doesn’t do it. She’s performing with lackluster and no fucks given, and it’s taking away her star.
He then explained what he tried to do for Carey, when he was under her employment:
Working with an artist like Mariah, who’s not a mover first, it’s always a challenge to get them to think physically and not just vocally. You always have to keep in mind that they’re a singer first...I wanted to give Mariah a modern push to revamp her, give her a fresher, more modern feel, make her more aware of her body and her lines, and not look like her feet hurt when she’s walking.
Emphasis mine, because damn.
"You're a legend," Burrell added. "But you don’t care, your team doesn’t care. They’re not guiding and directing her."
Burrell also took credit for some of her past success, noting: "She’s back to where she was before. It's not like she's never looked this bad before; I just stepped her game up."
And Burrell had some ~choice words~ for Mariah's team:
It felt like they were so new at their jobs, and had no direction. When you’re green, you’re playing things by trial and error, and there were a lot of errors... Some of the dancers her team hired are great dancers, but they’re not choreographers or creative directors.