Making a comedy isn't always fun. Some of the angriest on-set experiences stem from collaborations where funny people are trying to find their way. And sometimes, celebrities brought in for laughs ruin the endeavor with their allegedly diva-esque antics. Take Mariah Carey, for example. The singer/actress/mega-star was hired to play a casino act in the Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler comedy, The House. Only, according to a first-hand account by co-star Cedric Yarbrough, Carey sabotaged the joke and, in general, made everyone suffer. The comedian recalls:
A really funny cameo was SUPPOSED to happen with Mariah Carey. But it was ruined by superstar Mariah Carey. ... This lady was unprofessional & borderline abusive to our director, who tried his best to appease her every wish. ... I do know that our crew didn't deserve that, our director didn't. ... This kind of behavior just isn't cool. I'm not even going to tell you the worst part.
The way that Cedric Yarbrough describes it, in a now-deleted Facebook post, the team behind The House -- a comedy about suburban parents who turn their house into a casino -- came up with the idea of having Mariah Carey appear as an act in the lounge. The star came to set, then made everyone wait for hours for her to finally come to the proper set In the meantime, the team cooked up a stunt for Carey, and had her body double pull the stunt off. When they asked Carey to mirror the stunt double's work, she refused, saying:
Darling, I would never do it that way...
Cedric Yarbrough says he heard that exact statement. And this was after the cast and crew had waited for hours for Mariah Carey to even come to the set. And then she refused to play along with the gag. In addition, Yarbrough says that Mariah then requested such bizarre props as a large fan to blow her hair around, and a camera that would shoot her from above. She has a history with music videos, sure. But this isn't a music video. It's not even a Mariah Carey movie! Co-star Rob Huebel started the ball rolling on this Mariah bashing regarding The House. I wonder if more stories will come out now.
I also wonder what demands Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler had on set? Knowing the good-natured comedians, I'm guessing they were nothing like this.
Kudos to Cedric Yarbrough, whose credits include the TV series Speechless and Bojack Horseman, for calling out such behavior. He uses it as a learning lesson for up-and-coming talents of how NOT to behave on set. But he also includes the lesson for "old heads" like himself, saying it's important to be professional on a film set at all times, because it's everyone else's time that you are wasting.
We have seen The House, which opens in theaters on June 30. Mariah Carey's bit has been completely scrubbed from the comedy. Her loss.
