BATTLE ROYALE

Mariah Carey’s Ex-Assistant Files Lawsuit Accusing Singer of Abuse

The singer claims the former assistant tried to blackmail her.

After singer Mariah Carey reportedly sued her for filming embarrassing videos and a blackmail attempt, the superstar diva’s ex-assistant shot back with a lawsuit claiming Carey’s ex-manager sexually harassed her, tackled her, and attempted to urinate on her. The New York Daily News reports Carey’s ex-assistant, Lianna Shakhnazaryan, filed a suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming the singer’s former manager—Stella Bulochnikov—subjected her to “severe, pervasive, sexual, derogatory, offensive, physically abusive, and outrageous conduct.” Shakhnazaryan’s suit alleged Bulochnikov called her a  “f--king Armenian whore,” tackled her, and attempted to hold her down and urinate on her multiple times while Carey allegedly permitted the abuse to happen. Shakhnazaryan also reportedly claimed Carey committed “acts of physical and emotional/psychological abuse,” although the court documents do not elaborate. According to the suit, Shakhnazaryan was fired in 2017 after she brought the abuse allegations against Bulochnikov to Carey.

Carey’s suit against Shakhnazaryan claims the ex-assistant secretly filmed videos of the singer and attempted to blackmail her for $8 million. A spokesman for Carey said the singer was removing “the trash from her life” in 2019 and called Shakhnazaryan a “grifter and extortionist.” “Because her threats and bad acts are too great to be ignored, Mariah has been compelled to file a lawsuit against her,” the spokesman said.