Mariah Carey Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

It looks like another one of Mariah Carey’s intensely public breakups is over for good. The diva has reportedly settled with her former manager Stella Bulochnikov, who sued Carey for sexual harassment in April after working with her for about three years.

Bulochnikov’s suit alleged Carey was frequently nude around her and, according to TMZ’s write-up, “did sexual things in Stella’s presence.” The suit also alleged unpaid wages and a substance-abuse problem on Carey’s part. Carey’s rep called the claim “frivolous and baseless.”

But now it’s over, according to Page Six, which says Bulochnikov’s attorney reports, “The parties [have] reached a mutually agreed resolution to this matter,” while declining to mention if Bulochnikov accepted a cash hand-out.

According to the Blast, the court documents state:

“Mariah and Stella Bulochnikov have ‘reached a mutually agreed to resolution of this matter.’ Bulochnikov agreed to ‘discontinue this action against Mariah Carey with prejudice, with each party to bear its own attorneys’ fees and costs.’”

The Blast adds:

Our sources said Bulochnikov believed she was owed commissions on the fortune she helped Mariah make during their time together. According to sources close to Stella, the number was north of $100 million in three years.

In that time, Carey released a few flop singles, participated in a barely watchable (even by my lamb-skewing standards) reality show, became engaged to and then broke up with billionaire James Packer, released an animated movie based on her likeness, renewed her Las Vegas residency, and waged a brief war (mostly fronted by Bulochnikov) with Dick Clark Productions over its supposed sabotage of her infamously inert 2016 New Year’s Eve performance in Times Square.

Over a year before Bulochnikov’s November 2017 departure from Carey’s camp, Page Six had been publishing rumors about the havoc Bulochnikov was wreaking on Carey’s inner circle. An anonymous source said that Bulochnikov was “toxic” and “hard to work with.”

In another, perhaps more elucidating report, a source said (emphasis mine), “[Bulochnikov has] practically moved in with Mariah and now she has so much stuff on her that she can get her to do anything. She’s pulling the strings, and Mariah does whatever she says.” I thought of this when, on April 11, 2018, Carey announced she was living with bipolar disorder in People. On April 16, 2018, Bulochnikov filed her suit.

We’ll probably never know whether Bulochnikov’s behavior prompted Carey’s mental health reveal, and it’s just as well. That particularly messy (at least from a public perspective) chapter in Carey’s career is over. “A No No,” a song on Carey’s critically acclaimed recent album, Caution, was reportedly inspired by Bulochnikov (“Off with your head, now slither out the door/Snake’s in the grass, it’s time to cut the lawn”). It might be the most joyous breakup song Carey has ever written: