"Songbird Supreme" and Queen of Christmas, Mariah Carey, is reportedly suing her former personal assistant after accusing her of secretly filming intimate and embarrassing moments, as well as "outright stealing". The 48-year-old singer filed the $3 million lawsuit against Lianna Azarian on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Azarian was hired as Carey's executive assistant in 2015.
Carey has said that Azarian was working in a clothing store when she "eagerly accepted the once in a lifetime business opportunity". The exclusive job came with a meager starting salary of $250,000 but this was later upped to a more reasonable $327,000 because of the long hours required. Sounds like a dream come true! But this apparently wasn't enough for Azarian, who Carey claims she discovered was secretly filming her while engaged in intimate activities. Carey has stated that, if revealed, these videos "would be personally embarrassing and professionally damaging." The lawsuit does not, however, disclose what exactly was filmed.
Azarian has reportedly shown said videos to her friends and colleagues. When confronted, she allegedly refused to turn them over and claimed that if she were ever fired by Carey, she would sell the footage and buy herself a home.
According to the lawsuit, Azarian was terminated for repeatedly not showing up for work and so threatened to leak the videos unless Carey paid her $8 million. Mariah wasn't having any of it and decided to take legal action.
On top of the reported videos, Carey has claimed that Azarian "retains a closet full of expensive clothing and handbags that belong to or were paid for by Mariah". In her lawsuit, Carey has requested that a judge declares her the legal owner of all the goods and to order Azarian to destroy the videos. She has also requested for a permanent restraining order preventing Azarian from releasing any footage.
A representative for Carey has released a statement saying that the civil complaint showed that Azarian "turned out to be a grifter and extortionist". He went on: "Because her threats and bad acts are too great to be ignored, Mariah has been compelled to file a lawsuit against her. Given that the evidence against this former assistant is vast and deplorable, we anticipate a victorious resolution."
He cheekily added that the new year "welcomes Mariah's continued efforts to clean the trash from her life".
However, Azarian has fired back at the songstress by filing a lawsuit of her own against Carey and her former manager, Stella Bulochnikov. Prepare yourselves for this one. The long list of offenses reported by Azarian includes racial discrimination, sexual harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery, wrongful termination, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination and harassment, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, failure to pay earned wages upon termination, breach of oral contract, violation of the Bane Act and violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act. Did you get all of that?
In her suit, Azarian claims that she also acted as an assistant to Carey's former manager, Bulochnikov, pictured above with Carey.
She alleges that she was "subjected to severe, pervasive, sexual, derogatory, offensive, physically abusive and outrageous conduct by [Bulochnikov]," allegedly including being referred to as "a f**king Armenian whore," among other racist insults. She also claims that she was also subjected to "acts of physical abuse" including the "slapping of [her] buttocks and breasts," and even more shockingly, being tackled to the ground and "urinated upon in the presence of others on multiple occasions."
Azarian says that Carey "had knowledge of the [conduct], as much of such improper conduct was carried out against [Azarian] with Carey's knowledge, permission and/or in Carey's presence." She continued by saying that other employees of Carey witnessed these acts and did nothing to stop or prevent them. She claims that when she reported Bulochnikov's abuse to Carey, she was instantly terminated from her position.
In regards to her accusations of battery, Azarian says she was "subjected to aggressive, abusive and harmful physical conduct by Carey… [which was] performed… with the intent to harm and/or offend."
Azarian is seeking damages "including lost wages, past and future earnings [and] unpaid overtime," and money for "physical injury, mental pain and anguish, and severe emotional distress." These are added to her attorney's fees, general damages, the cost of the lawsuit and punitive damages. She has also requested for a trial by jury.
Amongst all of these shocking allegations, who knows what to believe?
