Mariah Carey is speaking out about her experience on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2008, which she called “extremely uncomfortable” in a new interview with Vulture.
While many celebrities — from Katy Perry to Jay Leno — have come forward in recent weeks to defend DeGeneres from allegations of a toxic work environment on her show, Carey said she wished that DeGeneres had showed her more “empathy,” according to HuffPost.
Carey appeared on DeGeneres’ talk show in 2008, amid rumors that she was pregnant, according to People magazine. DeGeneres asked Carey about the rumors and tried to serve her champagne to get Carey to confirm her pregnancy.
“Don’t discuss that,” Carey told DeGeneres on the show, according to HuffPost. “I can’t believe you did this to me, Ellen.”
Carey revealed in 2010 that she had been pregnant at the time of the show, but that she had a miscarriage soon afterward, according to People.
“I was extremely uncomfortable with that moment is all I can say,” Carey said in the recent interview with Vulture. “And I really have had a hard time grappling with the aftermath. I wasn’t ready to tell anyone because I had had a miscarriage. I don’t want to throw anyone that’s already being thrown under any proverbial bus, but I didn’t enjoy that moment.”
Carey also added that she believed there was “an empathy that can be applied to those moments that I would have liked to have been implemented. But what am I supposed to do?”
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” has come under new scrutiny in the last few weeks as former and current employees spoke out about mistreatment on set and the show went under investigation from WarnerMedia.
Earlier this month, it was announced that three producers on the show would be leaving, and DeGeneres apologized to the show’s staff, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“I’m a multi-layered person, and I try to be the best person I can be and I try to learn from my mistakes,” DeGeneres told staff members earlier this month, according to People. “I’m hearing that some people felt that I wasn’t kind or too short with them, or too impatient. I apologize to anybody if I’ve hurt your feelings in any way.”