Mariah Carey is clearing the Christmas air.
Ahead of the December 20 premiere of her CBS holiday special, ‘Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to All,’ the Pop icon hit the promo trail by visiting ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.’
There, before playing the fast-round ‘Colbert Questionert,’ Mariah made sure to address recent press concerning her titling as “Queen of Christmas.”
“First of all, may I say I never called myself the ‘Queen of Christmas. Can we please be clear on that?,” she said.
The statement came in response to reports of her failed attempt to trademark the name last month. The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board denied her exclusive rights to the moniker, a decision made due to push back from singers Elizabeth Chan and Darlene Love.
“As an independent artist and small business owner, my life’s work is to bring people together for the holiday season, which is how I came to be called the Queen of Christmas,” Chan revealed in a press statement. “I wear that title as a badge of honor and with full knowledge that it will be — and should be — bestowed on others in the future… My goal in taking on this fight was to stand up to trademark bullying not just to protect myself but also to protect future Queens of Christmas.”
Always one with a quip, Mimi was sure to let folks know who the real Queen of Christmas is.
“They can look up every interview I’ve ever done, and not to get super religious, but I was like, ‘I think, like, if anybody would be the ‘Queen of Christmas,’ that would be Mary [mother of Jesus Christ],” she joked.
Did you miss the action when it first aired? No worries; we’ve got you covered.