MLB Rewind: Pop sensation Mariah Carey and Derek Jeter dated for a brief while in 1997
Global pop icon Mariah Carey and New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter actually dated once upon a time. This happened in 1997 during Jeter's sophomore year in the league and coincided with Carey's then marriage to former Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, Tony Mottola.
Carey has stated that one of the deciding factors behind her separation and eventual divorce from the music magnate was her short-lived relationship with Jeter. The singer was just 23 when she married the then 48-year-old Mottola.
The "Songbird Supreme" has described her relationship with Mottola as very toxic and controlling.
“There was a conscious effort to keep me as this all-American, whatever that means, girl. It was very controlled. There was no freedom for me as a human being. It was almost like being a prisoner.” - Mariah Carey via Cosmopolitan
She has also said that their relationship was wrong and inappropriate in an interview with Cosmopolitan in 2019.
Derek Jeter and Mariah Carey's short-lived relationship
Carey has stated in her new memoir, "The Meaning of Mariah," that her short-lived relationship with Jeter was crucial in getting out of the toxic relationship with Mottola. This was when she realized she could fall in love with someone again other than her then-husband. The multi-awarded singer found common ground with the Yankees shortstop due to them being both biracial. They both have white Irish mothers, while Mariah Carey's father is African-American-Venezuelan and Derek Jeter's father, on the other hand, is African-American. Carey was particularly fond of Jeter's family dynamic.
"It was the racial situation—that his mom is Irish, his dad is Black, but he was also very ambiguous looking to me" - Mariah Carey via The Oprah Conversation
Another noteworthy occurrence during the relationship between Carey and Jeter were the songs "The Roof" and "My All," both of which, as Carey has stated, alluded to and were inspired during her brief relationship with Derek Jeter.
Both songs were included in Carey's 1997 "Butterfly" album and went on to be certified five-times platinum. "My All" even peaked at number 17 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The couple ended their brief relationship without much noise or fanfare, but according to ABC, the pair specified that it was due to "media pressure." If there's one thing that's certain, it's that Carey will always remember her relationship with Jeter as something positive and formative in her eventual other relationships.