Mariah Carey is suing her former assistant, Lianna Shakhnazarian, ET can confirm.
Mariah Carey is suing her former assistant, Lianna Shakhnazarian, ET can confirm.
According to court documents obtained by ET, Shakhnazarian was Carey's executive assistant from March 2015 through November 2017. Carey is accusing Shakhnazarian of violating their non-disclosure agreement, as well as "breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and conversion of personal property."
The 48-year-old singer is seeking no less than $3 million in damages, plus all recoverable interest, costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees.
"When Plaintiff Mariah Carey's former personal manager hired Defendant Lianna Shakhnazarian ("Azarian") as an Executive Assistant to help with Mariah's business and personal life, Azarian, the Executive Assistant turned out to be a grifter, a Peeping Tom and an extortionist," the lawsuit reads.
Carey's lawsuit alleges that Shakhnazarian secretly filmed her without her knowledge or permission, which if revealed, would be personally embarrassing and professionally damaging to her. The lawsuit also alleges Shakhnazarian displayed the intimate videos for her friends and co-workers, and threatened to release the private videos if Carey ever fired her.
"Confronted with the fact that she recorded Mariah without her knowledge or consent, Arzarian did not apologize," the lawsuit alleges. "Instead, Azarian threatened to release the videos, and other sensitive, private information, unless Mariah provided her $8,000,000. This is blackmail."
In a statement to ET, Carey's rep continued to claim that the allegations and evidence made in the lawsuit is "vast and deplorable."
"This new year welcomes Mariah's continued efforts to clean the trash from her life," the statement reads. "Because her threats and bad acts are too great to be ignored, Mariah has been compelled to file a lawsuit against her. Given that the evidence against this former assistant is vast and deplorable, we anticipate a victorious resolution. Mariah continues her streak of success this year with an upcoming North American tour and return to Vegas."
ET has reached out to Shakhnazarian for comment.
Interestingly enough, earlier this month, Carey settled her legal battle with her former manager, Stella Bulochnikov. Last April, Bulochnikov filed documents against Carey -- approximately five months after being fired by the singer -- accusing her of sexual harassment and breach of contract. Carey vehemently denied the claims.
According to court documents obtained by ET, the two parties reached a mutually agreed resolution to the matter, and Bulochnikov agreed to discontinue the action against Carey "with prejudice, with each party to bear its own attorneys' fees and costs."
Last November, Carey appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, and gave her candid thoughts on Britney Spears, Meryl Streep, Wendy Williams and more. Watch the video below:
-- Reporting by Joseph Corral
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