Dear Gossips,

What is The Meaning of Mariah Carey? That’s what Mimi’s calling her memoir and she announced this week that it’s coming out September 29. You can read it or you can listen to it because there will also be an audiobook and, obviously, Mimi’s not letting anyone else tell her story. I will be getting both versions. 

 

Here’s what Mimi shared on Instagram about what to expect – in addition to her love of alliteration, LOL: 

The Meaning of Mariah Carey will be published by Andy Cohen’s imprint. Well that’s a choice. I can’t imagine Mimi would have been lacking for publishing offers. What’s the takeaway here? Are Mimi and Andy closer than we thought? Will Mimi be joining the Bravo family? 

As for the book, how candid will Mimi get? It used to be that celebrity memoirs were basically just puff pieces, but recently the celebrity memoir has become compelling again. Demi Moore went there. More recently Jessica Simpson went there. Her Open Book is now considered one of the best celebrity memoirs on the market because she actually gave us more insight into not just her life but the ecosystem in which she came to fame, including details about her father’s mismanagement of her career. 

Will it be the same with Mimi? Will she go there too? Will she give us new hits to go along with her greatest hits? Like how she’s completed 500 hours of beauty school? I mean I always love hearing her tell us repeatedly that she’s done 500 hours of beauty school but a fresh story now and again might be fun? 

The press release announcing The Meaning of Mariah Carey seems to suggest that she might be namechecking those who’ve come into her orbit. 

"In her own words and song lyrics, Carey reveals untold moments and intimate experiences along with anecdotes of sacred moments with iconic figures to craft an honest, unique and vivid portrait of her extraordinary life."

 

Who are these “iconic figures”? Mimi is a legend. She’s spent time with other legends. She’s also beefed with a few notables. Will those stories make it in too? The press release promises that she’s getting candid about her struggles. One part of it cracked me up though, in the best way possible: 

"By pulling back the curtain on perceptions often told through the filtered lens of media, Carey bravely and beautifully walks through her battles with gender and power dynamics, emotional abuse, public embarrassments, personal failures and phenomenal victories." 

It's how she makes sure to tell us that no matter how tough the battles were, she got through them… beautifully. AS IT SHOULD BE! 

Mimi is beautiful always! 

And she is very beautiful on the cover with the wind machine tousling her hair just so, the butterfly ring adorning her left hand, and while it does look a little like she’s mid-squat, that’s probably only because she’s sitting on a stool or something. Which totally tracks. Let the butterfly build back her energy! She just co-wrote a book with Michaela Angela Davis! Michaela by the way promises that this will be the truth: 

 

I wonder what the publicity tour for Mimi’s book will be like. I wonder what publicity will look like a few weeks from now. The United States just set another record with over 60,000 new COVID-19 cases in one day. A return to normal seems doubtful so, probably, we’re looking at more virtual junkets. And as we know, Mimi doesn’t acknowledge time. 

This means that, well, Mimi operates on an independent schedule. Which is why she’s often late in our world but totally punctual in hers. Just want to put it out there that I’d wait three hours to interview her in my own home in a Zoom room if that’s what it takes. 

Yours in gossip,

Lainey