NEW YORK (The DuVernay Agency) - america magazine, the world's first urban luxury publication, unveils its
Spring 2005 edition with dual covers featuring multi-platinum songstress
Mariah Carey and controversial hip hop entertainer 50 Cent.
In Mariah Carey's revealing interview with Aliya S. King, the top-selling female artist of all time gives america readers a rare glimpse into her troubled past and triumphant journey. Carey speaks frankly about her stormy relationship with ex-husband Tommy Mottola, her limited sexual experience, her flirtation with Tupac Shakur, her challenges with racial identity and her childhood memories of the gay couple that gave her a stable home after her parents' divorce.
Outlined below are select passages from america magazine's current cover feature on stands now: Mariah Carey: Imitation of Life:
ON TOMMY MOTTOLA AND THE DIVORCE
Tommy and Mariah married in 1993, in a ceremony modeled after the nuptials of Princess Diana and Prince Charles. "Yeah, everybody talks about that. But no one saw me on the honeymoon, running down the beach, miserable, crying and alone."
Tommy Mottola was her first sexual partner. But their union was not fulfilling in that way. "My relationship with my husband was not a physical relationship. It just wasn't.... That relationship shaped who I am. It beyond shaped me. I still have nightmares about it."
"Even though I owned that house, the only thing I felt like I owned was my pocketbook. He (Tommy) didn't even know why I always had my bag with me. But in my mind I thought, 'If something jumps off...I'm ready.' I lived like that for a long time. I used to wish, hope and dream that someone would kidnap me."
ON SEX
Today, seven years after the divorce, Mariah insists she can still count on one hand how many sexual partners she's had. In some ways, she's proud of it. "I've never been driven by the need to be with a lot of people. I was always focused on other things." And in other ways, she sees her lack of lovers as a liability. "I would like to be more experienced. I feel like in certain relationships, had I been more experienced, maybe things would have been different."
ON TUPAC
On her way back upstairs from the photo room, she passes through the kitchen. On the wall hangs a framed photo of Tupac Shakur immersed in a bubble bath. She fans herself dramatically as she points it out. "Everybody always told me that he liked my music and I was always complimented by that."
When asked if they ever met, Mariah lets out a rush of breath. "Mmm hmmm... It was at the Grammys. He was driving by in this white Rolls Royce - this was when I was still with Tommy - and he just stops and I see him, and he's like, 'Hey Mariah.'" She does her best Tupac-in-a-white-Rolls-Royce impersonation: one hand on the wheel, one arm hanging out the window. "I just said hi and then I had to go back in. He said, 'Bye Mariah,' and I ran back inside like this..." She runs up the stairs to the alcove, lifting an imaginary ball gown and looking wistfully over her shoulder. "Ahhhh," she groans, half-laughing. "It could have been perfect."
ON RACE
"There's never been a time when I didn't spell out exactly what I am. But for some, I was still just a white girl. To others, I was a black girl who was just passing... It's easy to take shots at me. No one feels like they need to protect me... If I was two shades darker, there'd have been people protesting for me."
ON HER UPBRINGING
Rachel Wifall, Mariah's classmate, remembers: "Fourth grade was that time when you're fighting with your parents about wearing what you want to wear. So even the girls, we're all wearing our Levis and corduroys and she comes in wearing this really frilly, feminine dress. She got teased for it." It could have been worse. They could have focused on the fact that Mariah and her mother had just moved in with Ernie and Mort, a gay couple who'd given Mariah the most stable home she'd had since her parents' divorce.
For interviews with america Editor-In-Chief Smokey Fontaine or transcripts of the complete Mariah Carey interview as it appears in the Spring 2005 issue, contact Ava DuVernay or Ellene Miles, The DuVernay Agency, 323-860-7060.
america magazine is the world's first urban luxury publication. Launched in 2004, the magazine's past covers have featured Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams, Lenny Kravitz, R. Kelly, Usher and Gisele Bundchen. Visit the magazine's website at www.americamag.us.
