Page Six is sourcing “insiders,” as it does, in an item about Mariah Carey’s manager, Stella Bulochnikov, who is not problematically at all referred to as a “Russian dictator,” and who is allegedly using Mariah Carey for fame.
If true, that wouldn’t be the first time a publicist was using their client for their own ends, and in particular, said insiders are, like our own Kara Brown, worried that an upcoming Carey reality show focusing on her Vegas run is going to muss up her brand. But also, judging by Bulochnikov’s response to a prior Page Six story about exactly that, she and Carey share the perfect temperament: all tea, all shade, don’t mess with the masters:
Bulochnikov called us an “idiot” and told us to “f - - k off and lose my number” after Page Six ran a story bout Carey’s team not being fully behind the reality show. She did not return our calls for this story.
The gist of the “Russian dictator” story is that the reality TV show will be less about Mariah and more about Stella. Quotes a “source who has worked with Bulochnikov”: “She is definitely very much out for herself, and this is golden opportunity for her because she wants to be famous. She wants to be the one in the magazines.”
Page Six also says that Bulochnikov is “pulling the strings” and controlling Mariah Carey’s career, which on one hand sounds totally untrue—any casual Mimi fan knows that Carey is what Carey does and yields for no one—but on the other hand, doesn’t sound that bad. Much as we all adore her, she needs someone smart to help her career motor along after 2014's The Elusive Chanteuse, wasn’t exactly a runaway success—one can not subsist on Vegas runs and Christmas spectaculars alone. (Though we would all be better for more Mariah-directed Lifetime movies in the works.)
Most importantly, if Bulochnikov is the kind of person who dismisses Page Six so handily, we should all actually want her to feature prominently on Carey’s new E! show: the combination of snappy manager and Shade Queen Diva sounds like reality television created in your bitchiest dreams. I say, go forth!
Contact the author at julianne@jezebel.com.
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