Nick Cannon is speaking out about wife Mariah Carey’s heated blowout with fellow “American Idol” judge Nicki Minaj.
Nick stopped by Access Hollywood Live on Wednesday and chatted with Billy Bush and Kit Hoover about the exchange posted on TMZ where Nicki is reportedly heard saying, “I told them I’m not f***ing putting up with her f***ing highness over there.”
“Oh why? Why do I have a 3-year-old sitting around me?” Mariah is heard saying back to Nicki. “I can’t see my kids, because you decided to act like a little crazy b**** and go all around the stage.” (See the video, HERE!)
According to Nick, these antics are detracting from the FOX series.
“When you think about what the show is actually about and represents… I feel like it’s taking away from the quality of what ‘Idol’ is all about. This is about people accomplishing their dreams, experts guiding these young people to do what they’ve done,” he said of the publicized drama between his wife and Nicki.
Nick said he was proud of how Mariah handled herself.
“My wife is the strongest and classiest woman that I’ve ever met, if you watch the video, she just maintains her composure… I don’t think she’s moved by the theatrics and pageantry of it all. She signed up to do a job to help young people… this is like a sidebar. I hope that’s not what this show becomes, about the catfights,” he explained. “The show is solely about a singing competition, that’s why America loves these shows, they want to see people reach a certain goal or win… and then to make it about something it’s not, [it] kind of shows that the producers and the network are losing their foot a little bit.”
Adding, “If I’m producing a show about young people accomplishing their dreams, that’s what I want the show to be about, not all the side pageantry… my wife is strong, classy and she maintains her strength.”
Kit asked if Nicki was possibly jealous of Mariah’s long list of career achievements.
“You read the script!” Nick said with a laugh.
Nick spoke to Mariah after the Tuesday incident and said that the only thing on his wife’s mind was their 1-year-old twins.
“She called me and we were talking about the kids… at the end of the day she’s a mom and that’s my wife… we got diapers to change and kids to raise,” he told Billy and Kit.
He also explained that Mariah doesn’t want incidents like these to overshadow the purpose of “Idol.”
“I think that was one of her main concerns… [she] signed up to be a mentor on a show that is about people accomplishing their dreams.”
“Idol” host Ryan Seacrest spoke about the incident on Wednesday morning on his radio show, saying, “It was heated… It did go too far, to the point where the producers said, ‘Let’s call it a day.’ Those few contestants who didn’t get to see the judges, they’ll bring them back today.”
On Tuesday Ryan Tweeted, “Going to bed in Charlotte after an anything but dull day at #idol auditions.”
A rep for FOX has no comment on the incident.
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