Mariah Carey has had several feuds with other celebrities. There's her iconic "I don't know her" statement on Jennifer Lopez and her beef with Eminem.
While most of these rifts have been attributed to her diva persona, her spat with the King of Comedy star, Sandra Bernhard, was definitely on the latter.
In a resurfaced clip, Carey confronts the comedian for being "mean" to her during a SiriusXM appearance. Bernhard previously made a "racist" joke about the Fantasy singer which Naomi Campbell later discussed with Carey on No Filter with Naomi.
Here's a closer look at Carey and Bernhard's complicated history.
What Did Sandra Bernhard Say About Mariah Carey?
In Bernhard's 1998 stand-up, I'm Still Here… Damn It!, she said of Carey's ethnicity: "She's trying to backtrack on our asses by acting real ni****- there at the Royalton Hotel suite with Puff Daddy and all the greasy, chain-wearing Black men."
Speaking to the Hero hitmaker on No Filter with Naomi in 2020, Campbell said of the joke: "People can be very hurtful, but one of the things that hurt me, because I care about you and I care about the past, was what Sandra said. I was just like, 'Are you for real?' How did that even slide by? That is so rude and disrespectful. And I will say it here: completely racist."
"You are Black,” she said while gesturing at her guest. "You have every right. You are working also, in a professional capacity. I just felt like, now, I wanted to clear that up because I was pissed."
Carey revealed that she didn't have anyone to talk to about it back then. "I wish I would have called you back when it happened because I was so upset and nobody came to my rescue at that point," she told The Face judge. "But whatever, I can't – it's ignorance."
Campbell even slammed Bernhard for promoting the Black Lives Matter movement without apologizing for her joke. "I look at these people who are now like, 'Yes, Black Lives Matter', but yes honey, let's really remember what you said," said the supermodel. "Because those things will come back and haunt you. Now you want to backtrack?"
How Did Mariah Carey Confront Sarah Bernhard?
In 2018, Carey surprised Bernhard and Andy Cohen during their Radio Andy and Sandyland shows on SiriusXM. Before that, the radio hosts were talking about the Obsessed performer doing another interview just down the hall, promoting the upcoming release of her album Caution.
"You don't love me. You're so mean, Sandra," Carey told the actress before coming into the studio to give Cohen a hug. Bernhard then said: "No ... Mimi ... no, I'm not," said Sandra. "Listen. I played homage to you at a time. Come for one minute, Mimi. Let's bury the hatchet."
As the five-time Grammy winner sat down to join their live session, Cohen told her, "Sandy loves you!" Bernhard added, "I adore you. Even back in the day, we've talked this through," to which Carey replied: "Well, well, well, no need to go back down that memory lane."
When the Glitter star left, Cohen told Bernhard, "So Mimi does not think you like her." The latter brought up her controversial stand-up routine, saying: "I did a funny piece about Mimi years ago, and [Mariah's former manager] Sandy Gallin, god rest his soul, called me and said, 'Please stop doing this piece about Mimi.' I said, 'It's funny!'"
"Back in the day, where you could use language that you can't use now, I did a thing about Mimi and the men she was with, diving into the water and doing her thing," she continued without acknowledging the joke's racist theme.
Right after her stand-up, Bernhard was quoted telling the New York Magazine (via That Grape Juice): "I have carte blanche to use that word from my friend Paul Mooney. I'm a card-carrying white-black girl."
Years later, she reflected on the backlash, telling Seattle Weekly: "I think anybody Black who comes to my shows gives me carte blanche to say that because I'm really coming from their place. I'm not some cracker up there…It's so obvious that I'm a part of that culture."
Are Mariah Carey And Sandra Bernhard On Good Terms Now?
When Carey left Bernhard and Cohen, the former told the Bravo staple that that interaction with the music icon "smoothed it" over. "She knows, she said I look good," she noted. "She looks fabulous. She's been through so much and she's still standing and looking terrific."
She continued: "I am a little overwhelmed. There are certain people that are really iconic and wonderful. Yeah, she's crazy, but she's so brilliant in her craziness."
In 2019, during an appearance on Cohen's Watch What Happens Live, Bernhard claimed that she and Carey were now on good terms. But the songstress' interview with Campbell didn't exactly confirm that.
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