Mariah Carey: 'My Comments About Britney Spears Were A Joke!'

17 May 2012

Mariah Carey has laughed off rumours she's angry at Simon Cowell for choosing Britney Spears over her as a judge on The X Factor- after she made a bitchy jab aimed at both Cowell and new judge Britney in a recent red carpet interview.

Mariah has initially reached out to Simon Cowell when he first announced plans to launch a U.S. version of the hit British talent search early last year (2011) and expressed her interest in getting involved.

Carey, who was expecting twins at the time, was forced to drop out of plans to become a judge on the programme due to her pregnancy and singer Nicole Scherzinger was reportedly chosen to take her place alongside Cowell, Paula Abdul and Antonio 'L.A.' Reid for season one.

She was then briefly linked to the job again when Abdul and Scherzinger were dropped from the line-up at the end of the first series, but Cowell finally settled on Britney Spears and Demi Lovato for the vacant roles and officially announced their involvement on Monday (14 May).

In a case of sour grapes Mariah seemed less than impressed with Cowell's decision to appoint Spears as a judge, telling U.S. news show Extra, "You think I focus on that stuff? Have we met? I love (Spears), honestly. I think she's a very nice person, but I don't care who's going on that show - as long as it's not me."

Mariah Carey 'Couldn't Care Less About Britney Spears X Factor Role'

Mariah's harsh comments sparked speculation she was upset at being overlooked by Cowell, but Carey insists she was just joking.

Taking to Twitter.com on Wednesday (16 May), she wrote, "@BritneySpears & @SimonCowell of course I luv+care about you dahhlings, congrats (sic)! U never know what's true or gossip, I was joking around!"