If you blinked in 2016, you probably missed it. One minute Mariah Carey is floating on a yacht in the Mediterranean with an Australian billionaire, and the next, she’s demanding a $50 million "inconvenience fee." It was a whirlwind. It was weird. Honestly, it was peak Mariah.
But for all the headlines about that massive 35-carat ring, there is a lot that people still get wrong about why things fell apart between Mariah Carey and James Packer.
The Mediterranean Mirage
They met in Aspen. Of course they did. It was at the Hercules premiere in 2014, and according to Mariah, they just hit it off—talking and laughing so much that people around them actually got annoyed.
By June 2015, they were public. This wasn't just a quiet dinner in Malibu. This was a "vacationing on a super-yacht in Capri" kind of romance. James Packer, the casino mogul whose net worth makes most A-listers look like they’re working for tips, seemed like the perfect match for a woman who literally bathes in milk.
He was powerful. He was successful. And for a moment, he seemed to adore her.
The engagement happened in January 2016 at Eleven Madison Park in New York. James didn't just get down on one knee; he presented her with a Wilfredo Rosado diamond that was so big (35 carats!) it made Elizabeth Taylor’s famous ring look modest.
Then, everything stopped.
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Why Mariah Carey and James Packer Actually Broke Up
The split happened in October 2016 after a disastrous trip to Greece. That’s the "where," but the "why" is a mess of conflicting stories.
Packer’s camp hinted at Mariah’s "extravagant spending" and her desire to put their lives on a reality show (Mariah’s World). They claimed James was a private man who didn't want the circus.
On the other side, Mariah’s team fired back. They suggested James wasn't in a "mentally healthy place" and that something specific happened on that yacht in Greece that made the relationship untenable.
There was also the "Lachlan Murdoch" factor. Packer was going through a massive business restructuring and a billion-dollar settlement with his sister. He was stressed. He was depressed. He was, by his own admission in his biography The Price of Fortune, at a "low point."
"I was at a low point in my personal life... She was kind, exciting and fun. Mariah is a woman of substance. But it was a mistake for her and a mistake for me." — James Packer
The "Chaste" Revelation
Years later, Mariah dropped a bombshell in her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. Actually, it was a bombshell by omission. She didn't mention James at all.
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When asked why, she told The Guardian that if a relationship mattered, it made the book. If not, it didn't occur. Then she added the kicker: they never had a physical relationship.
That’s a wild detail for an engaged couple, but it fits the "Mimi" brand of old-school Hollywood glamour where everything is about the idea of romance rather than the reality.
The $50 Million Settlement and the Ring
Most people think Mariah just walked away, but that’s not her style. She reportedly sought a $50 million settlement as an "inconvenience fee."
Why? Because she had moved her entire life from New York to Los Angeles to be with him. Because the breakup was abrupt. Because she's Mariah Carey.
She didn't get $50 million. But she did get a few million, and crucially, she kept the ring. For a while, she even wore it on her middle finger. Very subtle.
Eventually, she sold that $10 million ring to a Los Angeles jeweler for a reported $2.1 million. Some saw it as a financial loss. Others realized it was just Mariah "cleansing the energy" and getting a couple million dollars for a piece of jewelry she didn't want anyway.
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What We Can Learn From the Packer Era
Looking back, the Packer era was a bridge. It happened after her marriage to Nick Cannon ended and right before she settled into a long-term (though now finished) relationship with Bryan Tanaka.
It was a time of transition. It reminds us that even when someone seems like a perfect "paper" match—the billionaire and the diva—real life usually has other plans.
If you're looking for your own "billionaire" ending, maybe skip the 35-carat drama. But if you find yourself in a situation that isn't serving you, take a page from the Mariah handbook:
- Know your worth. If you move your life for someone and it fails, don't be afraid to ask for what you're owed.
- Protect your peace. If a relationship feels like "baggage," sell the ring (even at a discount) and move on.
- Control the narrative. You don't have to include everyone in your life story. If they didn't matter, they didn't "occur."
The Packer relationship wasn't a failure; it was a high-budget detour. And honestly, it gave us some of the best "diva" moments of the decade.
Next Steps for the Fans: To see the Packer era in real-time, you can still find episodes of Mariah's World on various streaming platforms. It’s a fascinating, curated look at the exact moment the relationship started to fray under the pressure of a world tour and a looming wedding that never happened.