Most of us, Old Schoolers, are somewhat familiar the history of Mariah Carey’s marriage to Sony Music’s former head executive, Tommy Mottola. They wed in 1993, when Mariah was 24 and Tommy was 44. They divorced in 1998, and Mariah later referred to Tommy as having been emotionally abusive, controlling and revealed that she was “miserable, crying, and alone” throughout their marriage.

After their marriage was a wrap, Mariah continued to capitalize off of the career that Mottola was largely responsible for. She went on to sell many more millions of albums and needless to say, Mottola reportedly was not feelin’ that.

Irv Gotti On How Mottola ‘Got Revenge’ Against Mariah

To back up that claim, in an interview with Desus & Mero, Murder Inc. Records founder, Irv Gotti, revealed what Mottola did to in an attempt to supposedly sabotage Mariah’s career. Not only did Irv expose Mottola’s shut-down of Mariah, he also gave insight into why Mariah has been throwing so much shade at Jennifer Lopez. In 2001 — three years after Mariah and Tommy divorced — Murder Inc. was dominating the music game. According to Irv Gotti, that’s when Tommy Mottola used their success to get back at Mariah, by boosting then-music-newcomer, Jennifer Lopez, and pairing her with Ja Rule, instead. It was Mottola’s attempt to draw attention away from the music Mariah Carey had created with the Murder Inc. crew, says Irv.

Irv Gotti: “[Mottola] calls me because he found out me and [Ja] Rule made a record with Mariah Carey. At the time, he hated Mariah Carey, so he was pumping Jennifer Lopez to compete.”

Irv says Mottola then asked him to record and promote a Jennifer-Ja-Rule duet instead.

“Immediately when he said that, I was like, ‘This [ni&&a]! He knows we just did this sh*t with Mariah and he’s trying to f*ck Mariah,’” said Gotti.

But that’s not all though, see what else Irv Gotti exposed about that situation in the video clip below, starting at the 2:13 mark (contains graphic language)…

“I’m Real” ended up being a mega-hit and Murder Inc.’s Mariah Carey duet was pushed to the side.

Geesh…I was aware that Michael Jackson once referred to Tommy Mottola as “the devil,” but apparently, Tommy’s alleged payback toward his ex-wife, Mariah, seemed kinda devil-ish too.

It’s A New Day For Mottola

Ironically, when Mariah became a trending topic at the start of 2017 — after her disastrous New Year’s Eve performance in Times Square — it was Tommy who came to her defense. In a letter to PageSix he defended her against the flack she caught for throwing a diva-tantrum live on the Times Square stage, after her lip synching vocals didn’t play:

Via The Telegraph: “Everyone should just get off her back and leave her the hell alone, [Mottola] wrote in a letter to PageSix.com. “Hopefully she will find her way to the right professionals for guidance. It’s never about the fall, it’s all about the recovery. […] None of these issues or problems ever existed with her in her early days at Sony.

In his letter, Mottola also criticized the pop star’s new reality show Mariah’s World. “I would never have encouraged her or guided her to do something like a reality television show!!!!! I don’t get it!!” the [then-67-year-old] wrote. … That does absolutely nothing for her integrity, her credibility, or her massive talent!! She should take a step back, think carefully and figure out what to do next.”

I guess Mottola’s reported “hate” for Mariah has subsided. Like the Old School saying goes: ‘Time heals all wounds.’