Mariah Carey explained why she recently called Meghan Markle a "diva."
For context, Mariah appeared on Meghan's podcast, Archetypes — which is all about female tropes — to talk about the meaning of the word "diva."
The discussion of the duality of the term led to Mariah saying, "You give us diva moments sometimes, Meghan."
When asked about said "diva moments," Mariah explained, "The visual, a lot of it's the visual."
"Let's pretend that you weren't so beautiful and didn't have the whole thing and didn't often have gorgeous ensembles — you wouldn't maybe get as much ‘diva' stuff."
Meghan subsequently admitted that she initially found it a little bit jarring to be called a diva by her teen idol, saying, "I don't know about you, but it stopped me in my tracks when she called me a diva."
"You couldn't see me, obviously, but I started to sweat a little bit. I started squirming in my chair in this quiet revolt," she continued. "My mind genuinely was just spinning with what nonsense [Mariah] must have read or clicked on to make her say that. I just kept thinking, in that moment, was my girl crush coming to a quick demise? Does she actually not see me?"
"She jumped right in to make sure I was crystal clear. When she said diva, she was talking about the way that I dress, the posture, the clothing, the 'fabulousness' as she sees it," Meghan added. "She meant it as ‘chic,' as ‘aspirational.' She meant ‘diva' as a compliment, but I heard it as a dig."
To be extra clear, Mariah then clarified that it was very much meant as a compliment on Twitter:
Really enjoyed talking to Duchess and Diva Meghan Markle about “The Duality of Diva.” Yes! I called her a diva, in the most fabulous, gorgeous, and empowering meaning of the word!!! #Archetypes https://t.co/sOOQ25RoeB