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BEHIND THE VELVET ROPE

BRENDA K. STARR (on Friendship & Fall Out w/ Mariah Carey, Tommy Mottola & Wendy Williams' Involvement)

BEHIND THE VELVET ROPE

David Yontef

News, Entertainment News, Tv & Film, Society & Culture

3.93.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 December 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Brenda K. Starr steps Behind The Rope. Brenda chats with us about what it was like to find success and hit it big in the late 1980’s with her most well known song “I Still Believe”. We chat about some of her contemporaries at the time, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper, Paula Abdul, Tina Turner and Debbie Gibson. Speaking of contemporaries, a little known singer named Mariah Carey used to sing background for Brenda. One day Brenda handed a demo to Columbia Records Executive Tommy Mottola at a party on behalf of Mariah and, as they say in the biz, the rest is history. Brenda opens up about what Tommy was really like both as a person and as a Record Exec who helped launch her career. Brenda also discusses how she really feels about Mariah covering "I Still Believe”, which has now become one of her biggest hits, breaks down where Mariah’s “diva” and “difficult” reputation originates from, and discusses how true she feels those monikers are. She spares no detail in explaining exactly why her and Mariah no longer speak and what she would say if she crossed paths with her today. Why does it not shock us that the name Wendy Williams comes up in this conversation. There was also Mariah’s wedding and being seated at a table with both Gloria Estefan and Barbara Streisand. Of course, we delve deep into Mariah’s “The Meaning of Mariah” book which hit shelves last year - Brenda shares her thoughts, discusses what is accurate and what she would like to rebut, Mariah’s short lived reality docu series “Mariah’s World” - Stella, Bryan, Nick Cannon, and the many misconceptions in the media about Brenda’s relationship past and present with Mariah Carey. Since it is Christmas and all…. @officialbrendakstarr @behindvelvetrope @davidyontef BONUS & AD FREE EPISODES Available at - www.patreon.com/behindthevelvetrope  BROUGHT TO YOU BY: HOMESERVE - homeserve.com (Home Owners Insurance That Start At Just $4.99 a Month) RAKUTEN - rakuten.co.uk (Go To Rakuten.co.uk, Download The App Or Install The Browser Extension To Earn Cash Back While You Shop At All Your Favorite Stores) PROGRESSIVE - www.progressive.com (Visit Progressive.com To See If You Could Save On Car Insurance) ADVERTISING INQUIRIES - Please contact David@advertising-execs.com MERCH Available at - https://www.teepublic.com/stores/behind-the-velvet-rope?ref_id=13198 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

There's a reason we re-watch Home Alone every year.

0:03.5

Merry Christmas, you filthy animal.

0:05.6

It's because the best stories stay with you.

0:08.5

And Disney Plus is where you'll find your next great story.

0:12.4

Whether it's Fantastic Four First Steps.

0:14.9

We will protect you.

0:16.1

High-power drama, All's Fair.

0:18.1

Tell us your story.

0:19.0

Or brand new Percy Jackson.

0:22.0

That is just the beginning.

0:28.8

A lifetime of great stories awaits on Disney Plus. Now streaming 18 plus subscription required.

0:35.6

T's and Cs apply. If you want to listen to this episode or any of our episodes, ad free, you can do that now.

0:40.1

Head on over the Patreon. Click on the ad free level. You get all of our bonus shows that you've been hearing so much about. Plus every single day, Monday, Tuesday,

0:45.4

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, you can listen to this episode or any of our other episodes

0:50.2

at the same time, ad free over on Patreon. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas.

1:23.1

Happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanza.

1:25.7

Do you know I read that someone made a joke, I think, on Twitter and said, you know, every Christmas, Mariah Carey, there you go.

1:35.3

You know, she makes a million dollars from all I want is Christmas.

1:39.2

And for all I want for Christmas is you she makes million dollars someone

1:46.3

tweeted that out and she responded and said change the one to a five so Mariah

1:52.3

Kerry make five million dollars every holiday season because of all I want for

1:56.8

Christmas anyway we could not think of a better show to share here today on basically

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