Music

Mariah Carey and Anderson .Paak Further Fuel Relationship Rumors at IHeartRadio Music Awards

Mariah Carey and Anderson .Paak sat beside each other during the televised awards ceremony.

Mariah Carey accepts the iHeartRadio Icon Award onstage at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California on March 17, 2025.
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartRadio

The relationship rumors surrounding Mariah Carey and Anderson .Paak are heating up.

On Monday (March 17), the artists were spotted sitting beside each other during the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards telecast. After the 5-time Grammy winner enjoyed musical tributes by Muni Long and Tori Kelly, .Paak escorted her to the stage to accept the Icon Award. Also seated with .Paak and Carey were her children, Monroe and Moroccan Cannon, 13, whom she shares with her second ex-husband Nick Cannon.

During the tribute, .Paak and Carey happily smiled and sang along while Long and Kelly covered the singer's classics like "Always Be My Baby" and "We Belong Together."

The awards show appearance comes roughly four months after Carey and Paak reportedly spent time together in Aspen, Colorado for the holidays. While Carey divorced Cannon in 2016, .Paak filed for divorce from his wife of 13 years, Jae Lin Chang, last January. The ex-spouses share two sons, Soul Rasheed, 13, and Shine Tariq, 6.

While the musicians haven't confirmed if their relationship is romantic or platonic, they started out as collaborators, having recorded music together last summer.

Before Cannon, Carey was married to record executive Tommy Mottola from 1993 to 1998, while her last boyfriend was dancer Bryan Tanaka, whom she dated on and off from 2016 to late 2023.

Last October, Carey told Billboard that the best way for suitors to get to know her was to start on a "friendly level."

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