Mariah Carey Says Ellen DeGeneres Made Her ‘Uncomfortable’ In 2009 When She Asked Her About Her Pregnancy On Air

In 2008, Ellen DeGeneres was on top of the world.

Five years into hosting her talk show “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” the comedian was also newly married to her wife Portia de Rossi and pulling in tons of interviews with celebrities. At the time, she was publicly embraced and twelve years away from being ridiculed on platforms like Twitter for her “toxic” behavior in her workplace. That was why, perhaps, singer and music icon Mariah Carey trusted DeGeneres and agreed to take part in an interview with the television host, not at all suspecting she would be asked to address pregnancy rumors.

Now, in a recent interview with Vulture, the Grammy winner reflected on the interview and her feelings of having her pregnancy prematurely announced on television over a decade ago.

During the infamous 2008 interview, DeGeneres asked Carey to confirm or deny tabloid rumors that she and her then-husband Nick Cannon were pregnant.  

In the interview, while Carey attempted to laugh off DeGeneres’s questions and change the subject, the comedian pressed the issue. At one point she even offered the singer a glass of champagne to prove she was not pregnant. “This is peer pressure,” Carey responded to DeGeneres as the audience laughed. After, when Carey pretended to take a sip DeGeneres screamed “You’re pregnant!”

Speaking to Vulture about the moment, Carey said she felt “extremely uncomfortable” about the questions.

“I was extremely uncomfortable with that moment is all I can say. And I really have had a hard time grappling with the aftermath,” Carey explained.

Two years after the interview, Carey confirmed that she had been pregnant at the time of the interview but miscarried soon after.

A year later, in 2011, Carey and Cannon gave birth to their twins Monroe and Moroccan but the DeGeneres moment clearly had a bad impact.

“I wasn’t ready to tell anyone because I had had a miscarriage,” Carey told Vulture. “I don’t want to throw anyone that’s already being thrown under any proverbial bus, but I didn’t enjoy that moment.”

Carey went onto explain in the interview that she wished DeGeneres had given her more “empathy” at the time. “But what am I supposed to do?” she added. “It’s like, ‘What are you going to do?'”

Carey’s reflection of the moment comes at a time when Warner Media is giving “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” an internal investigation based on complaints of workplace toxicity.

Earlier this year in July, BuzzFeed News reported that employees accused the show of supporting a “toxic work environment” behind the scenes of the talk show. “One current and 10 former staffers spoke anonymously about their experiences on set,” People reports. “Including claims of being penalized for taking medical leave, instances of racial microaggressions and fear of retribution for raising complaints.”

In an emotional conference video held with staff in August, DeGeneres explained that she “wasn’t perfect.”

“I’m a multi-layered person, and I try to be the best person I can be and I try to learn from my mistakes,” she said. “I’m hearing that some people felt that I wasn’t kind or too short with them, or too impatient. I apologize to anybody if I’ve hurt your feelings in any way.”