Mariah Carey Says Her Affair with Derek Jeter Inspired Her to End Marriage with Tommy Mottola

Photo credit: Rose Hartman - Getty Images
Photo credit: Rose Hartman - Getty Images

From Harper's BAZAAR

Mariah Carey credits former New York Yankee Derek Jeter with inspiring her to leave her emotionally abusive marriage to music executive Tommy Mottola.

In a new interview with Oprah Winfrey on AppleTV+'s The Oprah Conversation, Carey shared details about her forthcoming memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, and dished about her affair with the baseball star, who played a pivotal role in her achieving her own independence.

In 2019, the musician described her marriage to Mottola as a prison in an interview with Cosmopolitan. Now, she's revealed that Jeter was the "catalyst" who convinced her she could no longer stay married to the record producer. The pair's whirlwind affair even went on to inspire the lyrics behind two of Carey's hits, "The Roof" and "My All."

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"He was a catalyst that helped me get out of that relationship because I believed that there was somebody else," said Carey. "It was the racial situation, his mom is Irish, his dad is Black. But he was also very ambiguous looking to me. I didn't know who he was, we met and I've written songs about it."

She continued, "And honestly, I don't think it was like, 'Oh my gosh, he was the love of my life. Like, at the time I did, because I didn't think I would ever meet anybody who wouldn't- What's the word? I used the word, I just thought about this last night. Not looked down on but feel superior to me because of the fact that I'm not one way or another in most people's minds, and they have preconceived notions, whatever.

"But he was a catalyst. And I think that it was beautiful," Carey shared.

Photo credit: Ron Galella - Getty Images
Photo credit: Ron Galella - Getty Images

The "We Belong Together" singer also added that meeting Jeter's interracial family had an impact on her, proving that not all those who are biracial stem from dysfunctional families. Carey's parents divorced when she was young, and she revealed that she'd been teased and taunted by her own family and friends throughout her life for being biracial—her father was Black and Afro-Venezuelan, and her mother Irish.

"And they changed my viewpoint that 'Oh, it's because of the biracial situation that my family is so screwed up,' as opposed to 'it's them.' And yes, those things did play a huge part in their dysfunction," said Carey. "But it was healthy for me to see a functional family that basically kind of looked like mine, but didn't feel like mine.

"And he was also living his dream job and doing his dream job," she said. "I believe we connected in that way."

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