A Complete History Of Jennifer Lopez's And Mariah Carey's Feud

Pop divas make our worlds go round, and so when there is trouble in paradise, we all eat it up. Of all the celebrity feuds to ever make their way into the public sphere, though, not many have had the longevity that the Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez beef has. It seems the two women have never actually had a conversation face-to-face, but things that have been said and not said have spoken volumes. 

Their feud dates back to the 90s when the ladies were merely up and comers, however, for reasons unknown to us mortals, they still haven't reconciled. Both Carey and Lopez have appeared in interviews claiming there is no bad blood between them, and both have alluded that the media has made more of it than neither one of them has. Whatever the reasoning behind the tiff is, these two have provided some classically shady entertainment on and off the stage — and we thank them for it. 

Mariah Carey's relationship with Jennifer Lopez has been about as cordial as her relationship with ex-husband Tommy Mottola, and it turns out, he is actually the root of the two divas' beef. In her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the singer revealed that as she was working on Glitter, she secured a sample from Yellow Magic Orchestra's 1978 song "Firecracker," which she was going to use for her single, "Loverboy." Mottola, who was head of Sony Music Entertainment at the time and seemingly bitter about their torrid divorce, caught wind of this and "after hearing my new song, using the same sample I used, Sony rushed to make a single for another female entertainer on their label (whom I don't know)," she wrote.

After years of denying ever having known Lopez, it was easy for fans to deduce that she is the female entertainer in question. But the queen of Christmas didn't end her revelation there. "After all that s**t, 'Loverboy' ended up being the best-selling single of 2001 in the United States," Carey stated. "I'm real." Cutthroat. 

Things may have been happening behind-the-scenes, but an interview conducted in the early 2000s indicated to the public that something was going on between MC and J.Lo. Though the interview was recorded over a decade ago, it didn't truly make the rounds and become a cultural staple until the late 2010s. 

Mariah Carey was on the German TV program Taff, and when asked about Beyoncé, she had nothing but incredible praise for the "Crazy in Love" singer, stating, "I love Beyoncé. Beyoncé is fabulous. I think she's a great writer, great singer. She's a very sweet person as well." The same question then came about J.Lo, and Mimi simply stated, "I don't know her." Nothing was ever the same. The answer was simple enough — maybe a little too simple — but fans read into the sly smile and head nod that followed and peeped the shade. 

At a time when musicians were practically American royalty, news of beef between them was a life source for the tabloids — and for the public too. Legendary beefs such as Aretha Franklin vs. Pattie LaBelle, Britney Spears vs. Christina Aguilera, and Mariah Carey vs. Jennifer Lopez all made our childhoods that much richer. And when it came to the latter, Carey ensured she had her foot on our necks for a very long time. 

Such was the case during a 2002 appearance on Larry King Live. The renowned interviewer coyly asked Carey if there were any conflicts first in the industry, and then between her and Jennifer Lopez.  "There are rivalries, but I don't think she has anything to do with me," Carey swiftly responded. "My whole thing is singing, writing songs ... I've been doing this my whole life, singing is first and foremost. It's a God-given talent that I'm grateful for. Her thing is something different." If there were any questions on how she really felt about being compared to the Maid in Manhattan actress, they were all put to rest right then.

After years of letting Mariah Carey control the narrative, Jennifer Lopez finally gave her take on the entire drama during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live. Host Andy Cohen directly asked the "Let's Get Loud" singer if she had any qualms with the queen of the whistle note, to which J.Lo responded, "I don't have a feud against her at all. I know from back in the day, I've read things that she's said about me that were not the greatest. But we have never met. We don't know each other. I think it's from kind of word-of-mouth, of things that have happened in the past that I'm not really aware of." 

At the time, she seemed hopeful that the two may even start a relationship of some sort. "I would love to meet her and I would love to be friends with her. I think she is incredibly talented and I've always been a fan of hers. 'My All,' is one of my favorite songs of all time." It was all wishful thinking. 

You don't become a pop diva without being able to throw some subtle shade of your own and while Lopez held her tongue regarding the feud for a while, her actions spoke for her. During the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, Mariah Carey was one of the top acts slated to perform. As she was belting out "Infinity," Jenny from the Block was apparently getting some notifications she just couldn't pass up. The singer was caught on video casually scrolling through her phone as Carey was performing. 

As so much was made of the incident, Lopez was asked about it when she appeared on Watch What Happens Live. "That was not fair with the texting thing, because I watched a lot of it," she quipped. "It was a long performance. I watched most of it. I may have looked down for one second [but] I was watching her the whole time." So... sorry not sorry then?

In 2015, while promoting her film, The Boy Next Door, Jennifer Lopez made an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, and was coaxed into a game of "Plead the Fifth" by Andy Cohen. At the time, rumors were swirling that she would join the ranks of Britney Spears, Shania Twain, and Celine Dion in getting her own residency in Las Vegas. When asked which singer she'd go watch perform if she had only one night in Vegas, Mariah Carey or Britney Spears, Lopez swiftly responded, "Britney, 'cause she dances." 

Now, we don't want to read too much into this, especially since Lopez is known to shake a tail feather herself, but given her history with Carey, we're sure there was just a slight hint of shade somewhere in there. Carey is infamous for not dancing on stage, always opting to dazzle in one spot while wearing gorgeous gowns and letting her hired dancers perform around her.  

With her Las Vegas residency officially underway, the Bronx native stopped by The Wendy Williams Show to promote the gig and also her then-new NBC primetime show, Shades of Blue. It was only natural that Williams, a well-known lover of gossip and spiller of tea, would bring up the infamous feud yet again. As Jennifer Lopez was listing all the performers she had watched in Vegas prior to taking on the job, she casually noted that though she watched Britney Spears, Shania Twain, and "a bunch of [other] shows," Mariah Carey wasn't performing at the time. "Who?" Williams interjected, referring to the famous, "I don't know her" moment. "She does say that," Lopez stated jokingly. "She's forgetful, I guess. I don't know. We've met many times!" 

She didn't end it there, though, muttering, "I don't know. I don't know her that well," before moving on with the conversation. The moment went by fast, but longtime followers of the feud latched on, and it was news again. 

With their relationship already in shambles, the "forgetful" comment from J.Lo reached Mariah Carey, and it seems the "We Belong Together" singer did not take too kindly to it. Whether it was because of the continuous back and forth regarding Jennifer Lopez, or her rough past with Wendy Williams, Carey was clearly bothered by the comment when she made her own appearance on Watch What Happens Live to address the dig. "Apparently, I'm forgetful because I don't remember the fact that it was just, 'Hi, I'm so and so,' and then move on," she explained, implying that her interactions with Lopez have been brief. "If I had never had a conversation with you and someone asked me about you, I'd be like, 'I don't know him, but he seems cool.' or 'I don't know him,'" she stated, referring to Cohen. 

The WWHL host pressed the songstress asking, "Does she seem cool?" to which Carey stressed again, "I don't know her." The diva did admit, though, that the Taff interview has been blown out of proportion. "It's no offense to anybody, [but] the question was about Beyonce ... and then they asked me another question and I don't know how I said it but, I was like 'I don't know her.' It wasn't like I don't know who she is, of course I do. That's not the question."

Things are bleak for fans out there hoping these two divas will eventually meet, be friends, and maybe hop on a song together. TMZ caught Mimi dashing out of her hotel in 2016, and as she was signing an autograph for a fan, she was, once again, asked about the infamous quote. Over a decade later, it seems nothing had changed. "I still don't know her," she responded as she bolted to her waiting SUV. 

In a 2018 interview with Pitchfork, Carey gave a bit more insight into that renowned comment. As it turns out, she was merely following the advice we all were given as young kids: "I really was trying to say something nice or say nothing at all. I really was," she stated. Bleak. 

At the time of this writing, Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez are yet to "meet" officially. However, if history is an indicator of anything, it's that these two will be speaking about each other again. Maybe Lopez will write a memoir and spill some tea of her own. Who knows?