Christmas is a busy time of year to be Mariah Carey, so there will be concern among fans booked for her popular “All I Want For Christmas” tour which kicks off next week that the iconic singer’s career is being mismanaged by her backup-dancer boyfriend, Bryan Tanaka, in what a source describes as “a full-on Britney-and-Kevin Federline situation.”
Carey, who was this week accused of sexually harassing her bodyguard by partially exposing herself to him in a paused draft court action, recently split with her mercurial manager Stella Bulochnikov, according to a report on Page Six this morning.
Bulochnikov engineered her reality show, her just-completed Las Vegas residency, her tour with Lionel Richie and her upcoming Christmas shows, according to Page Six, but was pushed out recently by Tanaka, 34, who has been dating Carey, 47, since her split from Australian billionaire James Packer.
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A source tells Page Six: “Bryan is behind the whole split between Mariah and Stella. Bryan believes that he should be the one running Mariah’s day-to-day life, and he’s been orchestrating Stella’s exit for a long time. No one enjoys working with Stella. There’s no secret that some people are happy she’s out of the picture.”
Carey’s career was famously masterminded at the outset by her then-husband Tommy Mottola.
He launched Carey as an artist in 1990, and shepherded Carey to global superstardom.
But the contrast with Tanaka, sources say, could not be greater.
“The boyfriend backup dancer isn’t the right person to run her career. He’s definitely no Tommy Mottola,” the source told Page Six.
Another source told Page Six: “This is a full-on Britney-and-Kevin Federline situation. Brian is a backup dancer, and knows nothing about managing an iconic artist.”
The paper claims that Carey is paying Tanaka up to $12,000 a week.
“Mariah is in love with Bryan and is like a schoolgirl around him. He has totally manipulated the situation to take over her life and push out everyone else, and Mariah just can’t see it.”
Carey’s spokeswoman denied to Page Six that Tanaka is currently managing Carey’s career, but they also “declined to explain who actually is.”
