Mariah Carey has never been one to hide her facial expressions, and the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards were no exception.
Carey, 55, went viral after she was caught on camera looking displeased during a tribute to her performed by Muni Long and Tori Kelly at the Monday, March 17, awards show, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The medley performance came before Carey was honored with the Icon Award.
While it’s not clear what exactly Carey was reacting to, fans were quick to theorize that she didn’t like what she was hearing on stage. “This gif of Mariah Carey will go down in history,” tweeted one observer, sharing a clip of the “Fantasy” singer turning to Anderson .Paak with a look of disinterest on her face.
In response, another X user quipped, “She was wondering why they didn’t book Ariana [Grande].”
Later in the performance, however, Carey was shown on camera smiling, and she thanked Long, 36, and Kelly, 32, during her acceptance speech, which she gave after an introduction from LL Cool J.
“Thank you Muni and Tori for these beautiful performances,” Carey said. “And LL, thank you for your kind words.”
Mariah Carey #iHeartAwards2025 pic.twitter.com/ZeXU0alTS7
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) March 18, 2025
Carey’s arrival on the stage also went viral, as the Grammy winner began her speech in true Mariah fashion.
“Is the lighting OK?” she asked after accepting her trophy from LL Cool J, 57. “Because I don’t like bad lighting.”
After the rapper assured her that the lighting was “good,” Carey asked the crowd, “Do you like the ensemble?” before giving a twirl to show off her shimmery black evening gown.
“As a kid I used to listen to my favorite artists on the radio and dream of being on the airwaves myself,” the “Always Be My Baby” singer continued. “Now for those of you who may not know what airwaves are, think of it as the non-wifi version of streaming. Even now I still get excited when I hear one of my songs playing on the radio. It never stops being magical.”
Carey also managed to throw in a little shade at her ex-husband Tommy Mottola when she gave a shout-out to John Sykes, the president of iHeartRadio.
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“And my first manager, by the way,” she said of Sykes. “He was my first manager. Did you know that? Some people think it was this other guy, but it wasn’t him. It was John.”
Carey and Mottola, 76, were married from 1993 to 1998. In her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, she described him as overbearing during their marriage and claimed he “monitored [her] — minute by minute, day after day, year after year.”
In his own 2013 book, Mottola said it was “absolutely wrong and inappropriate” to get involved with Carey.
