UPDATE 10/27 4:40 p.m. ET: Mariah Carey and James Packer have called off their engagement, a rep for the singer confirmed to Entertainment Tonight. “Mariah and James had a fight in Greece, and have not seen each other since,” the statement read. “The fight was not because of any cheating allegations or excessive spending by Mariah. James is one of the most successful businessmen in the world. They are trying to work it out. Right now, they’re not sure if they will stay together. They are discussing it, and plan to release an official statement together about their future.”
UPDATE 10/27 2:45 p.m. ET: According to a TMZ report, Mariah Carey and James Packer’s split stemmed from an incident that happened while they were vacationing on a yacht in Greece. A source told the website that Packer allegedly did “something really bad” involving Carey’s assistant that prompted her to ditch the yachting trip and head back to L.A.
Original story below
Is the engagement off? Mariah Carey and her billionaire fiancé, James Packer, have split, according to multiple reports. Find out more in the video above, and detailed below.
The Australian businessman, 49, allegedly dumped the pop superstar after they had a falling out over her upcoming reality show, Mariah’s World, and her over-the-top spending habits, Woman’s Day reports. He reportedly allowed her to keep the massive 35-carat engagement ring he gave her when he popped the question in NYC in January.
“It’s all over,” a source told the tabloid of the lovebirds, who were first spotted together in June 2015 in Capri, Italy. “James had huge reservations about Mariah’s new reality TV show and the fact that she was willing to expose their lives to the world.”
Another source of tension for the couple was that the five-time Grammy winner reportedly refused to support Packer at his sister Gretel’s 50th birthday party in Sydney, Australia, earlier this year, and Packer’s mother, Ros Packer, didn’t get along well with Carey.
According to People.com, Carey and Packer are taking a break, but they’re not ruling out a reconciliation. “They are not together right now. They split a couple of weeks ago,” a source told the website. “It’s possible they will get back together. They are still talking, but James needed a break.”
The insider echoed the sentiments about their different lifestyles. “Some of Mariah’s eccentric ways, especially her spending habits, caused drama,” the source added. “James is very private, and doesn’t need the media to be successful. He doesn’t want to be a part of Mariah’s reality show.”
Amid the news of a possible split, Carey canceled her upcoming South American tour dates, citing the reason as promoter negligence. “Devastated my shows in Chile, Argentina & Brazil had to be cancelled,” she tweeted on Tuesday, October 25. “My fans deserve better than how some of these promoters treated them.”
Carey was previously married to Nick Cannon in 2008, but they split in August 2014. They share 5-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe. Carey was also married to record exec Tommy Mottola for five years from 1993 to 1998. Packer has also been married twice, to Jodhi Meares from 1999 to 2002 and to Erica Packer from 2007 to 2013.
