Tommy Mottola Praises Ex-Wife Mariah Carey *Right* Before Her Book Release

Mariah Carey is getting candid in her new memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey — which will be released on September 29. So much so, the singer is dishing about her previous romances — from her ex-husband Tommy Mottola to Derek Jeter. 

Even though Mottola, 71, and Carey are no longer together, the music executive couldn't help but rave about the Grammy winner. "I am deeply gratified to have played that role in Mariah’s well-deserved and remarkable success, and continue to wish her and her family only the very best," he told Page Six.

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Mottola — who previously worked with Michael Jackson and Celine Dion — took Carey under his wing. Shortly after, the two tied the knot in 1993 — despite their 20-year age difference. "You might want to picture a child bride," she told Cosmopolitan magazine in 2019. 

"There was a conscious effort to keep me as this all-American, whatever that means, girl. It was very controlled," she explained. "There was no freedom for me as a human being. It was almost like being a prisoner."

Eventually, the former flames called it quits in 1997. Carey's relationship with the music mogul led to 15 No. 1 hits and 200 million albums sold worldwide.

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In 2013, Mottola released his book called Hitmaker: The Man and his Music, where he apologized to Carey for his "controlling" behavior. "Was I obsessive? Yes. But that was also part of the reason for her success," he wrote. "The problem was that I was the chairman of Sony and her husband at the same time."

In a recent conversation with Oprah Winfrey, the 50-year-old admitted that Jeter helped her realize she needed to leave Mottola. "He was a catalyst … that helped me get out of that relationship with Mottola, because I believed that there was somebody else," she revealed. 

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"I didn’t think I would ever meet anybody who wouldn’t … 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," she explained about her romance with the athlete.