Many thought that Mariah Carey's performance in Times Square on New Years Eve, as the headlining guest of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," was a fitting way to end 2016. The show was just as botched as the year itself. She struggled through some of her most famous songs, with attempts at lip synching that she made little effort to hide. There were obvious technical issues, as Mariah took her earpiece out in frustration mid-show, which hardly helped.
Though Mariah impressively shrugged off the whole debacle -- with a "shit happens" tweet, her reps are infuriated with Dick Clark Productions about what they see as a direct attempt to "sabotage" Mariah's performance in order to gain higher ratings, reports TMZ.
There were a couple of technical problems during the show -- including the prompter not working -- though Mariah's people are most angered about the earpiece given to hear by Dick Clark Productions. Mariah and her staff reportedly complained to producers many times -- earlier in the day during the initial soundcheck and even in the minutes leading up to the show -- that the sound transmitted via the earpiece was choppy and not loud enough.
Mariah's reps claim that producers assured her that she would be able to hear clearly when she went on stage, as her earpiece would be set to a different frequency. Though nothing changed throughout the performance, during which Mariah's staff desperately attempted to get producers to remedy the onstage disaster that was ensuing.
Dick Clark Productions has responded to Mariah's reps, issuing a statement that calls their allegations of sabotaging the show "defamatory, outrageous, and frankly absurd,” reports The NY Times. The production company also said that it "had no involvement in the challenges associated with Mariah Carey's New Year's Eve performance."
Mariah's manager, Stella Bulochnikov, referred to Dick Clark Production's efforts as a "disastrous production," though it does not seem like she is interested in filing any official charges against the company.
"I will never know the truth, but I do know that we told them three times that her mic pack was not working and it was a disastrous production," Bulochnikov told Us Weekly. "I'm certainly not calling the FBI to investigate. It is what it is: New Year's Eve in Times Square. Mariah did them a favor. She was the biggest star there and they did not have their s‑‑t together."