14 DAY TRIAL // Diva Mariah Carey came down with a severe case of bronchitis last week, for which reason she had to cancel one of her Las Vegas shows after the doctor put her on complete vocal rest. She was, however, back in top shape for Sunday’s 2015 Billboard Music Awards, which also took place in Vegas at the MGM Arena.
As one of Billboard’s most successful and celebrated artists, it was only right to have her perform during the gala: you can see her number in full in the video below. Mimi did a 2-song medley of “Vision of Love” and her latest release “Infinity,” but she failed to impress Jennifer Lopez in any way.
JLo scrolls through photos, “disses” Mariah
A video from one of the audience cameras has emerged online, showing Jennifer Lopez idly scrolling through photos (presumably of herself) on her smartphone during Mariah Carey’s performance. Naturally, footage from this camera wasn’t included in the broadcast.
When Mariah gets to the end of her performance and she delivers her trademark high notes (which, according to some, had been pre-recorded because Mariah sounded very bad up until that point), Jennifer is seen chatting with her on-and-off boyfriend Casper Smart, who is seated next to her.
According to celebrity e-zine TMZ, if that’s not a “diss,” nothing else is: Jennifer must really hate Mariah to go out of her way like this to let her know she doesn’t care about her performance.
However, if you watch the video, you will see that both Jennifer and Casper are actually bobbing along to the track. They might not express themselves as obviously as the other celebrities in attendance, but they’re enjoying the show. At the very least, they’re not hating it.
When Mariah is done and the audience gets up for a standing ovation, Jennifer remains seated and applauds politely. According to TMZ and several other glossies, this is yet another diss at Vegas’ newest resident.
A years-long feud
The second YouTube video below is what is dubbed a “Mariah Carey classic,” in which she talks about Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez. She calls the former a great singer and artist, and an amazing woman to boot, but when it comes to Lopez, she says, “I don’t know her” with a sly smile.
Mariah would elaborate in a later interview: “She’s a dancer isn’t she? She lip-synced Selena’s vocals you know. I don’t think that as a singer we are in the same category as artists.” Burn!
That was more than enough to prompt insane speculation of a feud between the biggest divas in showbiz, which neither took the trouble to clear.
Then, in 2014, Lopez broke her silence to say that she’d never spoken or even been introduced to Mariah Carey. She knew of the unflattering things she’d said about her, but as far as she was concerned, there was no “feud” to speak of.
Mariah Carey just screamed like she was in the woods trying to find Bigfoot. I know a Squatch call when I hear one.
— Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) May 18, 2015
When you're Jennifer Lopez & you have to sit & watch Mariah Carey perform. pic.twitter.com/Zbxa8EC2PI
— supreme de la síssy (@ShugSlavery) May 18, 2015