Mariah Carey Didn't Seem to Love the Tribute to Her at the iHeartRadio Awards

Over the course of a pretty incredible career, Mariah Carey has cemented herself as one of the great pop and R&B singers of all time. Over the course of that time, Mariah has also proven herself to be a major diva, and reportedly often won't perform unless everything is exactly the way she wants it.

Mariah went viral in mid-March after she was shown reacting to a tribute to her at the iHeartRadio Music Awards. Now, many want to know whether there was something wrong with Mariah at the awards show, or whether that's always how she is. Here's what we know.

Mariah was at the awards ceremony to accept their 2025 Icon Award, and almost as soon as she took the stage, she was in full diva mode, asking about the lighting.

“Is the lighting OK? 'Cause I don’t like bad lighting," she asked as she started her speech. Mariah then asked if those in the audience liked her outfit, giving them a chance to applaud as she twirled for the crowd.

“As a kid, I used to listen to my favorite artists on the radio and dream of being on the airwaves myself,” Carey said. “Now, for those of you who may not know what airwaves are, think of it as the non-WiFi of streaming.”

“Even now I still get excited when I hear one of my songs playing on the radio. It never stops being magical," she added.

While her speech was mostly sweet and sincere, many also noted what seemed to be a less-than-thrilled response to a musical tribute to her.

During that tribute, which was performed by Tori Kelly, Carey, and Muni Long, a cut back to Mariah suggested that she was less than thrilled with how the performance was going.

It's definitely possible, though, that the camera just caught her at a bad moment or she felt a pain somewhere in her body. It's also possible, though, that she wasn't very into the tribute and wasn't that interested in hiding it.

While we don't know exactly what was wrong with her in that moment, it's exactly the kind of thing that will lead to the creation of a new meme. Mariah is no stranger to having her behavior memed, and it's in part because she's so expressive in public that the internet has found so many of her moments meme-worthy.

"The look you make when the person sitting next to you farts, and you know who did it," one person wrote in the replies under the meme.

"She was NOT impressed and I don’t blame her," another person added.

Whatever Mariah's problem might have been, she let the world know about it. That's always been Mariah's way. She has never been afraid to share her whole self with the public, and that's a huge part of what has made her the enduring star that she still is.