Mariah Carey: Inside her dysfunctional family dramas

Singer Mariah Carey’s upcoming memoir probably won’t linger on the deep, lifelong divisions within her very dysfunctional family.

Mariah Carey is set to publish her first tell-all memoir this month, but insiders say it may steer clear of the heartbreaking conflicts within her “dysfunctional family”.

It remains to be seen how much detail the singer will go into regarding her alleged traumatic upbringing and the deep divisions within her family with the release of The Meaning Of Mariah Carey.

A family insider told The Sun that one of the issues is her own mother, Patricia, 82, who had been living in a secluded property in North Salem, New York, until recently.

Mariah allegedly strongly urged her “cult-obsessed” mum to move into an assisted living residence back in January – some 2000km away in Palm Beach, Florida, a 17-hour drive from everyone except a distant niece.

The source said: “I was shocked that she left there; she’s been in that house since 1994. It was a big deal moving to that house from her old home where Mariah spent her high school years.

Mariah’s upcoming memoir will tell all about her career ups and downs – but she may linger less on her family. Picture: @mariahcarey/Instagram

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“Pat would walk down her driveway onto the beach – she loved it there and didn’t want to move in the first place.”

They claim Patricia always hated the Sunshine State and said “over her dead body” would she ever move there, but Mariah was keen to send her.

In a recent photo obtained by The Sun, Patricia appears to have lost at least 145kg, compared to family shots taken just a few years earlier.

“We all find it very strange that, with all the money Mariah has, why she wouldn’t move a nurse into the house?” the source said.

“Anyone who’s seen that photo would say the weight loss is pretty dramatic.

“Yes, she’s moving to a nice five-star assisted living residence, where nurses will wait on her hand and foot, but it’s still a million miles from anyone.”

Mariah and her mum have reportedly had a troubled relationship for years, and one major fallout was in July 2001 when Patricia called the police while her daughter was allegedly struggling with mental health problems.

The insider adds: “Yes, Mariah was having a breakdown and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

“The intake arrangements at the hospital had already been made, Mariah just needed a safe space out of the public eye until then.

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Mariah Carey in July 2001, the year of her very public breakdown.

“She had her taken away from the home that she’d purchased, had it smeared all over the media that she’d had a nervous breakdown – it was horribly humiliating for Mariah and it was totally unnecessary.

“The whole cop thing was just Pat’s jealous, mean-spirited nature. Mariah was at no time a danger to herself or anyone else.

“Patricia wanted the world to know her vulnerable daughter was breaking down. She enjoyed Mariah being brought down a peg or three. I would have never forgiven her. It was a nasty, vindictive thing to do.”

They went on: “She’s always been jealous of Mariah. She was once an opera singer herself and a voice coach for many years and ended her career when she had kids.

“Mariah hates having her at any of her concerts, as she’d point out any imperfection, and criticise her for it.

“It would have been impossible for Mariah to not be severely damaged being raised by Pat as a sole role model.

“Knowing Mariah, she was probably very sweet about the move to the retirement home, saying, ‘It’s the best choice for you,’ but I bet you she got a ton of satisfaction out of it, and no one can blame her.”

In recent years, the family has been devastated by internal feuds with Mariah’s eldest sister Alison, 59 – a recovering drug addict and currently homeless – filing a lawsuit last month against her mother saying she forced her to have sex with strangers at the age of 10 and watched other kids being abused in a satanic cult.

Mariah doesn’t speak to Alison or elder brother Morgan, 60, who lives off-grid in Hawaii.

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Mariah’s troubled sister Alison Carey. Picture: SplashNews

Four years ago, Alison was attacked in her home by an intruder with a baseball bat and had to have brain surgery, but neither Mariah nor Patricia visited, with Morgan branding Mariah an ‘evil witch’ for abandoning their sister.

In a recent interview with Vulture, Mariah, 50, discussed her relationship with her estranged siblings, who she now refers to as her “ex-sister” and “ex-brother” – branding them “heartless”.

She said: “Here’s the thing: They have been ruthlessly just heartless in terms of dealing with me as a human being for most of my life. I never would have spoken about my family at all had they not done it first.”

Mariah also spoke about her mother during the interview, and how she has included her in her book to some extent.

“I tried to make her feel like I really do think she did the best she could,” she told the outlet.

Alison Carey. Picture: SplashNews

“I cried writing a lot of parts of this book. Maybe it’s because I have such vivid recollections. You know what? I’m sure I’m going to have to deal with a lot of people being upset with me. I hope not.”

But behind closed doors it seems Mariah has had a fraught relationship with him mum for years, with Patricia only being “wheeled out for publicity shots”.

“Mariah would never visit her mum in New York – only for photo opportunities. It was pure theatre. The only time she’d speak to her is if she left so many voicemails and guilt-tripped her into responding to the calls,” said the source.

“Everyone thinks Alison is the really unpredictable one in the family, but there’s no denying that Pat was obsessed with the occult, which Mariah even admitted to in one of her very first televised interviews.”

When approached for comment by The Sun, a representative for Mariah simply said: “The Meaning Of Mariah Carey is available on September 29, 2020.”

Mariah – pictured with daughter Monroe – now has a family of her own.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission