Why Did Mariah Carey 'Embarrass' Whitney Houston?
Mariah Carey snubbed Whitney Houston's offer of friendship during their first encounter at the American Music Awards decades ago.
The two powerhouse divas were famously pitted against each other as soon as Mariah emerged on the scene in 1987, causing a rift between the pair for several years.
Whitney's close friend BeBe Winans explains the first time Whitney and Mariah ever came face-to-face with each other at an award ceremony for the first time, but says the late singer was left "embarrassed."
"And contrary to popular thought, she loved to hear Mariah Carey sing. When Mariah burst onto the scene, Whitney called me and asked, 'Did you hear that new girl, Mariah? Good Lord, she can sing!'" BeBe writes in his forthcoming memoir The Whitney I Knew.
"To give you an idea of how the media twists reality, allow me to expound on the Mariah Carey situation. Now, this story would probably embarrass Whitney a little, but I have to tell it. I think shed understand that its all in good fun."
BeBe then goes on to explain the time when he instructed Whitney to offer her hand to Mariah at the award ceremony to squash the feud between them.
"The three of us piled into the car, and then Whitney blew in like a storm and slammed the door behind her. She was clearly upset and embarrassed," BeBe writes after Whitney did as she was instructed.
"I did everything you said: I stopped. I put out my hand and said, Hi Mariah, Im Whitney. And when I stuck out my hand, she turned her head like she didnt hear anything I said and looked up at the sky," Whitney told him.
"Oh, its true. I was so embarrassed. There I stood, looking like an idiot. Im never going to do what you tell me to do again. Thank God the media didnt see th! is."
The pair eventually sorted their differences and even collaborated on a song a few years later.
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