Mariah Carey goes viral for savage reaction to iHeartRadio Music Awards 2025 tribute

The “meme queen” has once again dominated social media with her brutal expression during a tribute to her biggest hits.

iHeartRadio Music Awards viewers are obsessed with this Mariah Carey moment.

The singer went viral at Monday night’s show for her seemingly savage reaction to Tori Kelly and Muni Long’s tribute performance.

The duo performed many of the 55-year-old’s hit songs before she was presented with this year’s Icon Award, reports Page Six.

As Long, 36, sang We Belong Together, the camera cut to Carey slowly turning her head and giving a serious side-eye while attendees danced around her.

“this gif of Mariah Carey will go down in history,” one X user wrote, with another labelling the six-time Grammy winner a “meme queen.”

A third joked, “She was wondering why they didn’t book Ariana [Grande].”

Mariah Carey's reaction to a tribute made in her honour has gone viral. Picture: Fox

Muni Long was performing one of her hits at the time. Picture: Monica Schipper/Getty Images

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Carey, however, was shown elsewhere in the tribute performance smiling along to Always Be My Baby and more hits.

Carey’s rep has yet to respond to Page Six’s request for comment.

The songwriter also made headlines for her candid comments about lighting while accepting her award onstage.

“Is the lighting OK?” she asked. “Because I don’t like bad lighting.”

She later accepted the iHeartRadio Icon Award onstage. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartRadio

In her ensuing speech, Carey gushed, “I still get excited when I hear one of my songs playing on the radio. It never stops being magical.”

While the Queen of Christmas did not walk the event’s red carpet, she wowed in a glittering black gown and curled hairstyle.

“Thank you, @iheartradio! ️” she gushed via Instagram after the awards show.

Long, who re-posted fan reactions to the tribute performance on her own account, spoke to Billboard about how “very excited” she was to pay homage to Carey.

She broke down her top songs from the artist, including Mine, Heartbreaker and My All.

This article originally appeared in Page Six and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Mariah Carey goes viral for savage reaction to iHeartRadio Music Awards 2025 tribute