Star: Mariah Carey is abusing sizzurp, cough syrup with codeine

Mariah Carey heads out in West Hollywood to grab a meal at Craig's restaurant
Star Magazine claims that Mariah Carey is abusing sizzurp, prescription cough syrup with codeine, to the point where insiders are concerned. I’m sure the woman who holds the straw for her to drink it is concerned, but it’s not like she would last long if she said anything about it. According to Star, Mariah begged doctors for a prescription to the stuff, citing her voice problems, and they obliged. Then she “lost” the first prescription and needed another one. Sizzurp is highly addictive and often abused. Here’s Star’s report:

Mariah consulted throat experts [following her voice problems during the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting], who recommended total voice rest. The problem: Mariah is a chatty diva and couldn’t bear not talking to her kids or refraining from ordering her staff around. So her voice got worse, and she begged doctors for a syrup scrip.

“Mariah’s team was adamantly against it, worried she’d develop a problem,” says a close insider of the singer, who is often seen with a glass of wine in her hand. “Needless to say, just days after receiving a prescription, Mariah had her people call a doctor to say she lost her prescription and needed another one. The truth is… she’d already drank all the syrup and wanted more!”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, February 9, 2015]

I was about to blow off this report as not true or not that important, and then I saw Mariah’s lip syncing fail video. TMZ has video (below) of Mariah performing at the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Trewlaney, Jamaica on Friday. Mariah looks out of it as she struggles to lip sync to “Fantasy.” The worst part comes at about :40 in, when she adjusts her tight dress and either forgets the words or doesn’t bother to try and look like she’s singing them. Mariah has had several instances of her voice failing during live concerts, so I guess she’s not taking any more chances.

It’s possible that Mariah’s earpiece isn’t on time with the music and that’s why she’s having problems. There’s a longer video on YouTube, and you can see her messing with her earpiece and trying to hear the songs. “Fantasy” is one of her biggest hits, she must have the lyrics down. If she’s having trouble lipping because she’s wasted on sizzurp/purple drank she should watch it. Sizzurp has caused multiple deaths and can lead to respiratory failure, especially when mixed with alcohol. Whatever is going on, she should at least be nailing the lyrics as she tries to mime them.

82nd Annual Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Mariah Carey Shops At Louis Vuitton

Mariah Carey heads out in West Hollywood to grab a meal at Craig's restaurant

Photo credit: David Tonnessen,PacificCoastNews, FameFlynet and WENN.com

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57 Responses to “Star: Mariah Carey is abusing sizzurp, cough syrup with codeine”

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  1. Sarah says:

    Sizzurp and not giving a f*ck are reasons to be bad at miming. However – the track goes on. It doesn’t explain her NEED to mime. It’s just sad. I see her heading down a Whitney Houston road.

    • denisemich says:

      I don’t think this is true. Her sister is literally a crack HIV positive whore. I would hope that Mariah has learned a lot through her struggles with sending her sister to rehab. She has to know that she would lose custody of her children.

      • pnichols says:

        I was in school with her from grade school to High School and she never ever drank or did drugs or anything. Not who she was, ever. Not a fan but this is total BS. Especially now with two children. No way.

  2. Loopy says:

    Wow she looks like she is out of it, she needs to take a long break.

  3. Maria says:

    She hasn’t been right for quite some time, it’s sad.

  4. aims says:

    When I first went through this I thought I saw Jamaica Jizz, I had to do a second take.

    I think Mariah needs to bow out at this point. She needs to go on those vacations. Who wants to bet that when her kids start to get mouthy, she’ll ship them off to boarding school?

    • QQ says:

      She does, I don’t know but with her and Janet Jackson for example is like they don’t know their audience… Like.. Sit down and live off your catalog, we know you have the receipts and the dues were paid!! we adults love you, please stop with the trying to Whisper sing with Butterfly fingers for the kids

      • Texased says:

        Janet Jackson left several years ago to be married in the UAE with her husband. I like the way she just bowed out gracefully instead of trying to hold onto her youth (madonna in a cheerleading costume at 55+).

        I’m a huge fan of JJ and she’s very rarely photographed but a couple of weeks ago, her husband and her went to an orphanage to donate money to it. No press. Just them getting a camera phone pic with some kiddos.

      • prissa says:

        @ QQ “…they don’t know their audience… Like.. Sit down and live off your catalog, we know you have the receipts and the dues were paid!!”

        YES EXACTLY!! THIS all day long!! Why can’t she realize this? If she “needs” the money (which I highly doubt) then she should downsize her lifestyle. I love/loved Mariah, but enough is enough. She should not tarnish what she worked so long and hard for. And how does an artist forget the words of their own song? I’m sure she has sang her song way more than I have and I still remember the words. Why can’t she???

      • Sea Dragon says:

        I think it would be nice to see her mature, change her style and approach accordingly and do more meaningful work in the industry and/or embrace a philanthropic lifestyle.
        Of course, I don’t think she’ll ever be aware that changes could be made and even if she became so, she’s too much of an empty vessel to trust a new path. It’s a shame but from a gossip standpoint, she’s interesting to watch.

  5. Kiddo says:

    I don’t understand the appeal of codeine as a recreational drug. It makes you feel like you’ve been dart-gunned.

    • Deanne says:

      Totally. Dart gunned is the perfect description. I got given a prescription for codeine cough syrup, when I had bronchitis a few years ago. I was like a zombie and had to stop taking it after a couple of days. It affected my memory too. Plus it has a disgusting salty taste. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to drink it. She always seems so out of it, it wouldn’t surprise me if she was taking something. She’s always so ” off”.

    • mimif says:

      222’s (with caffeine) are much better.

      • Kiddo says:

        What’s the point of being dart-gunned and simultaneously loaded with hyperness? It’s like you have to stay awake to experience the nausea.
        BTW, that required a search.

      • mimif says:

        It’s a poor man’s speedball, Kidoa! Do all opiates make you nauseous?

      • Kiddo says:

        I’m not sure if I’ve had any others therapeutically. Can’t think off the top of my head, but I never tried heroin and have no desire to.

      • mimif says:

        Heroin no bueno. I was referring to synthetic opiates like vicodin, etc.

      • Kiddo says:

        I have a vicodin prescription because of dental work, but never took it, because I feared the dart-gun effect. Plus I think tylenol is a much more dangerous drug than people realize, at least in terms of rapid liver damage.

      • mimif says:

        I completely agree with you on the Tylenol, it’s straight up killing people.

      • Kiddo says:

        It’s in vicodin.

      • Bread and Circuses says:

        I heard something interesting about opiates recently. If you give opiates to a group of people, some of them will have a horrible experience and never want to do them again. Some will have a neutral experience. And some will experience euphoria; it will be the best thing they’ve ever felt.

        What was particularly interesting is that out of that group that felt euphoric, roughly half of them will realize the experience was *too* good and will also voluntarily avoid opiates after that. They know they’re at risk of becoming addicted.

      • Bridget says:

        @Breadandcircuses – They gave me percocet after I had baby #2 and it was glorious. And in fact I did just that -I held off from taking the last of it because I just knew it was bad news.

      • Lady D says:

        I tried a puff of a crack pipe once. I had heard over and over that you would be addicted with one toke. I didn’t and don’t believe any drug is that powerful. However, that one toke was something else. Colours became brighter, sounds were clearer, I felt so strong and so intelligent, hell, I was invincible. it was just incredible. It lasted about 20 minutes. Then it wore off and colours faded a little, sound dropped, everything went back to normal. That was almost 30 years ago. I had no desire to try it again but I don’t think I’ll ever forget how amazing everything I thought, felt, saw or heard was for that 20 minutes.

    • prissa says:

      Well, I’ll admit – I’ve been prescribed it once and I loved it. It’s like being drunk without having to drink a lot of liquor or feel sick afterwards.

  6. Tracy says:

    Wow… That video is awful. Sad.

  7. Jenni says:

    She is one of these people who refuse to grow up. Mentally she is still a child. Sad.

  8. Jess says:

    That’s probably the worst lip syncing I’ve ever seen, dang girl. It might be time for her to give up singing, her voice is going and she has plenty of money to last multiple lifetimes, surely she has other opportunities for work. On another note, I miss the days when doctors would give out that cough syrup all the time, from a mild sore throat to a raging flu I could count on it to help, and give me awesome dreams, lol.

  9. kpoodle says:

    I see her more as headed down the Elvis road.

  10. Talie says:

    Now I know Julie Andrews was smart. Your voice does go at a certain point — no matter how hard you try, you age and things change. I now admire the strength it must’ve taken to stop like she did.

    • idontknowyouyoudontknowme says:

      Mariah had nodules besides her booze/private drama which doesn’t help. But consider Lily Pons, who was still performing in her 70’s, her lyric coloratura voice as beautiful as ever.. if you are good to your voice, don’t over or under sing due to ego issues you will be able to preserve it.

    • Ana says:

      Julie ‘can’t’ sing. She was left unable to after throat surgery.

  11. scout says:

    She is pretty bad on stage these days, can’t seem to have control over anything, physically and mentally. Hope she gets help soon for the sake of those beautiful twins. Probably suffering from depression, got to deal with it before it’s too late.

  12. FingerBinger says:

    I wonder if she mixes the sizzurp with champagne.

  13. MrsBPitt says:

    WOW….not good!

  14. ShanKat says:

    I always had Mimi figured for an opiate fiend. Her extremes of chattiness and then dopey-mess screams “Percocet” to me.

  15. Robert says:

    Sizzurp? WTF. Just smoke some weed instead, much better.

  16. maeliz says:

    That lipsynching was awful. Does she know how bad she’s sounding or looking?

  17. Melusine says:

    I remember when she had her breakthrough with “Vision of Love”. Holy Thor, what a voice she had. It saddens me a great deal that she has been on a downward slope for quite some time. For those of you who don’t know what she used to be capable of, vocally, I really recommend watching/listening to “The Daydream Tour” on YouTube (here’s one link, but there are others of course http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTtrc7Zmi7Q ). Live from start to end, and when you compare that to that sad, sad video from Jamaica it’s difficult not to think “what a waste”. Well, for me anyway.

    • nicegirl says:

      I saw her sing live the summer of 1990, she was a ‘breakout artist’ at Summer Jam (with Bel Biv Devoe, MC Hammer, Paula Abdul, Tone Toni Tony, etc., it was kick ass) – she sang “Vision of Love” and her pipes amazing!

    • holly hobby says:

      Ok I’m going to admit it. I think Tommy Mottola really took care of her career. I read his bio and he was pretty hands on – what types of music she should aim for, dictating that she dresses tastefully (now I miss that. She still doesn’t know how to dress for her body type), etc.

      She rebelled against what she thought was a vanilla career. He wrote in his bio that he wanted her to tone down the hip hop stuff because it was a narrower audience (anything for a buck right?). Well it’s been a long time since she was managed by him but she’s been on a downhill slide for awhile.

      It is quite sad to see. Vision of Love blew my mind!

  18. Skins says:

    I think this chick is so whacked out that she thinks she is entitled to charge fans top dollar and give these half-assed performances, and that the peasant fans should be happy to see her. She is a mess

  19. greenmonster says:

    She is constantly struggling with her earpieces, isn’t she? A good way to blame someone else in the end for a messed up performance.
    Almost every of her interviews I have seen, just portrayed a woman who has lost the connection to reality, esp. everything that came after her breakdown. To me she always comes across like a little girl who tries to play Alexis Carrington or someone like that. Mariah always seems unreal – and not in a good way. She is so over the top with her shenanigans that she must be terrible to deal with.

  20. Pandy says:

    Smile and TWIRL. Glad I didn’t pay $ for that show.

  21. kri says:

    Damn, what a disaster if true. That stuff is sooo bad. It’s been very popular for awhile and it just wreaks havoc. If she thinks she can pull this carp at her Vegas residency…ha. Just stop, Mariah. Get some help please.

  22. jenn12 says:

    Not a fan of her music, but no one could deny how talented she was at one point. She seems like a huge mess at this point, and reminds me of that talented singer from Valley of the Dolls, who just ended up as a huge diva because she had nothing left. Her kids are preschoolers, so this is scary. Maybe she always has people doing for her because she’s always stoned? Though the second sentence of this was perfection: “I’m sure the woman who holds her straw for her is concerned…”

    • Anne tommy says:

      Not a fan tho she had a great voice, she shd sort herself out and maybe give a bit more Acting a go, she was good in A very unglamorous role in ” precious”

  23. Ellie66 says:

    Gross she can get better prescriptions than codeine 😉 just the taste alone is gross than it makes me itch and it makes my stomach hurt yuck! I hate codiene but when I had a kidney stone they gave me Percocet and it was very yay! LOL! 😂

  24. Ravensdaughter says:

    Wow, that’s pretty bottom of the barrel. I am a retired pharmacist and when I worked in Virginia (yikes-25 years ago), patients could get 4 oz every 24 hours by signing a log and providing a valid driver’s license. I was quite sure that these down-and-out folks visited more than one pharmacy in 24 hrs., but we had no way to track that…

    Note that now pharmacists have to worry about getting a handle on Sudafed. Why? Get a case or so of Sudafed and through a short series of very flammable chemical reactions the yield-ding!-is methamphetamine.

    Back to Mariah. Clever girl is now hooked up by Rx. Let’s give her a chance on this one-if she has a nasty cough and can’t sleep, codeine based cough syrup is so far beyond OTC syrups there is no comparison. It will take her a few weeks before she is physically dependent-her handlers-and her prescribing physician, dammit- need to keep a close eye on her.

    Note-addiction is another step beyond physical dependence. It is a anti-social cluster of behaviors brought on by physical dependence to a drug.

  25. nicolenm says:

    I fished my mom’s painkillers out of the trash last summer and man it felt good. Very relaxing. I rremember thinking it’s a good thing I don’t have regular access to them because I could see how someone could become addicted. But yeah, mariah is a mess.

  26. JenniferJustice says:

    Pretty sad when a legendary singer in her 40’s is resorting to the same antics as Bieber. Is it because she can get it w/out witnesses? I don’t understand.