Mariah Carey and Wendy Williams have a dramatic, complicated history that dates back over twenty years. However, most people are probably most familiar with Carey and Williams’ contentious 2003 exchange on Williams’ defunct radio show. During a discussion initiated by Williams about whether Carey had a breast augmentation, the singer turned the tables on the host. “You know what, Wendy, you with the triple D’s need to stop it right now,” said Carey. “We’re happy you had the lipo lunch and the breast implants, but leave me be.” Williams then followed up by asking Carey if she’d gotten a nose job, then telling her she “looked like the type who got implants.” Carey responded, “You look like the type who got implants. You look like Pamela Lee’s cousin.”
Of course, this is far from the only tense back-and-forth the entertainers engaged in over the years. In fact, fans have compiled several hours of footage of the historically shady Williams covering Carey’s life during “The Wendy Williams Show” – and much of it was negative and kinda mean-spirited. From Carey’s divorce from Nick Cannon to her dwindling album sales, to even speculation about the state of her mental health, Williams took countless jabs at the singer during the height of her media career across radio and television. But just like the often-quoted, viral radio interview, Carey never took Williams’ comments lying down and even appeared on her radio show after their viral confrontation.
Interestingly, Carey and Williams’ relationship wasn’t totally negative.
Mariah and Wendy had a love hate relationship
Mariah Carey and Wendy Williams had no problem trading jabs in public, but their relationship was much too nuanced to label them as enemies. And while it’d be the stretch of the century to even remotely compare them to friends, they did share positive exchanges over the years. For example, Williams often praised Carey on the very same platforms she used to trash her. “The thing about Mariah Carey that I really love the most is that she is genuinely the leader at what she does,” she shared on her talk show. “Nobody sings like Mariah Carey … and the other thing is … ” aside from her perfume line, “she made all of her money from just off singing.” Apparently, this feat impressed the host!
Meanwhile, Carey forever immortalized Williams in her 2008 hit, “Touch My Body.” As she warned the fictional love interest in the song about not publicizing their intimate moments on the internet, she explained her reasoning, singing, “Cause they be all up in my business like a Wendy interview /But this is private ‘tween you and I,” (via Genius). Of course, this was probably related to the viral (and painfully shady exchanges) she and Williams shared over the years. As for Williams’ response? Well, she seemed happy to be acknowledged. “Yes, she said a Wendy interview — hi, Mariah, thank you for that. That was nice,” Williams responded during her radio show in 2008.
Unfortunately, Wendy Williams’ frontotemporal dementia diagnosis probably means their relationship will never be the same.
