Mariah Carey Trashed By Co-Writer Of ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You,’ Accuses Her Of Taking All The Credit For Smash Hit: She Doesn’t Understand Music

Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff

Mariah Carey Trashed By Co-Writer Of ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You,’ Accuses Her Of Taking All The Credit For Smash Hit: She Doesn’t Understand Music

Mariah Carey’s co-writer for her global hit song “All I Want for Christmas Is You”  has come forward with questionable allegations against the singing legend.

According to RadarOnline, during an interview on the “Hot Takes & Deep Dives” podcast, the pop star’s former collaborator, Walter Afanasieff, accused Mariah Carey of lying about the production of the smash holiday song for the past decade.  Walter Afanasieff said while Mariah Carey claimed she wrote the song as a child on her Casio keyboard, they actually created the song together.  Walter Afanasieff said:

“We were both on the same page about how we wrote ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You,’ there was never any alternate story until probably 10 years ago.” 

Mariah Carey

The singer’s co-producer added:

“When she started to hint at the fact that, ‘Oh, I wrote that song when I was a little girl!’ But why weren’t you saying that for 12 or 13 or 15 years prior to that? So it just sort of developed in her mind.”

Afanasieff also trashed Carey’s instrument-playing skills and claimed:

“She doesn’t play anything, she doesn’t play keyboard or piano. She doesn’t understand music, she doesn’t know chord changes and music theory or anything like that. She doesn’t know a diminished chord from a minor seventh chord to a major seventh chord”

He continued:

“So to claim that she wrote a very complicated chord-structured song with her finger on a Casio keyboard when she was a little girl, it’s kind of a tall tale.” 

Afanasieff then shared his version of how the tune came about. According to the record producer, he was in a rental home as Carey wrote music while he played the piano. He alleged he began to play what eventually became “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” when Carey popped into the room and started singing the lyrics she wrote. It’s important to note that on the track, both songwriters are equally credited. He said:

“’So on and on, and it was like a game of pingpong. I’d hit the ball to her, she hits it back to me.”

Afanasieff did credit Carey for writing most of the lyrics and melodies, but he is demanding credit for the music and chords.

Back in 2017, the mother of two told Billboard magazine:

 “I am proud of this song that I wrote basically as a kid on my little Casio keyboard.”

Years later she told Cosmopolitan magazine:

“I just sat down, decorated a little tree and put on ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ and tried to get into that mood. Then I sat in this small room with a keyboard and started doing little melodies and stuff. I was going over all the things I think about at Christmas time that make me happy and how to turn it around and make it into a love song.” 

As previously reported, the holiday hit recently broke a Billboard Hot 100 record as it hit No. 1 for a fourth consecutive year. The track, initially released in 1994, became popular again in 2019, taking the #1 Billboard Hot 100 spot during the December holiday season. It continued to take the No. 1 spot during Christmas in 2020, 2021, and once again this year.

Do you think Mariah Carey’s co-writer deserves to get credit for the hit single? Tell us below.