Mariah Carey Acting career
 Carey and Mottola separated in 1996. Although the public image of the marriage was a happy one, she said that in reality she had felt trapped by her relationship with Mottola, whom she often described as controlling. They officially announced their separation in 1997, and their divorce became final the following year. Soon after the separation, Carey hired an independent publicist and a new attorney and manager. She became a major songwriter and producer for other artists during this period, contributing to the debut albums of Allure and 7 Mile through her short-lived imprint Crave Records.
Honey (1997), Carey's first heavily hip hop-influenced single, presented a more overtly sexual image of her than had been previously seen. Audio sample (help?info)Carey's next album, Butterfly (1997), yielded the number-one single Honey, the lyrics and music video for which presented a more overtly sexual image of her than had been previously seen. She stated that Butterfly marked the point that she attained full creative control over her music, which continued to move in a hip hop direction with material co-written and co-produced by rappers such as Sean P. Diddy Combs and Missy Elliott. However, she added: I don't think it's that much of a departure from what I've done in the past ... It's not like I went psycho and thought I was going to be a rapper. Personally, this album is about doing whatever the hell I wanted to do. Reviews were generally positive: LAUNCHcast said Butterfly pushes the envelope, a move its critic thought may prove disconcerting to more conservative fans but praised as a welcome change. The Los Angeles Times wrote, [Butterfly] is easily the most personal, confessional-sounding record she's ever done ... Carey-bashing just might become a thing of the past. The album was a commercial success though not to the degree of her previous three albums and My All (her thirteenth Hot 100 number-one) gave her the record for the most U.S. number-ones by a female artist.
Towards the turn of the millennium, Carey was developing the film project Glitter, and she wrote songs for the films Men in Black (1997), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). During the production of Butterfly, Carey became romantically involved with New York Yankees baseball star Derek Jeter. Their relationship ended in 1998, with both parties citing media interference as the main reason for the split. The same year, Columbia released the album #1's, a collection of Carey's U.S. number-one singles alongside new material, which she said was a way of rewarding her fans. The song When You Believe, a duet with Whitney Houston, was recorded for the soundtrack of The Prince of Egypt (1998) and won an Academy Award. #1's sold above expectations, but a review in NME labeled Carey a purveyor of saccharine bilge like 'Hero', whose message seems wholesome enough: that if you vacate your mind of all intelligent thought, flutter your eyelashes and wish hard, sweet babies and honey will follow. Also that year, she appeared on the first televised VH1 Divas benefit concert program, though her alleged prima donna behavior had already led many to consider her a diva. By the following year, she had entered a relationship with singer Luis Miguel.
Rainbow, Carey's seventh studio album, was released in 1999 and comprised more R&B/hip hop-oriented songs, many of them co-created with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Heartbreaker and Thank God I Found You (the former featuring Jay-Z, the latter featuring Joe and boy band 98 Degrees) reached number one in the U.S., and the success of the former made Carey the only act to have a number-one single in each year of the 1990s. A cover of Phil Collins's Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) went to number one in the UK after Carey re-recorded it with boy band Westlife. Media reception of Rainbow was generally enthusiastic, with the Sunday Herald saying the album sees her impressively tottering between soul ballads and collaborations with R&B heavyweights like Snoop Doggy Dogg, Usher ... It's a polished collection of pop-soul. VIBE magazine expressed similar sentiments, writing, She pulls out all stops...Rainbow will garner even more adoration, but it became Carey's lowest selling album up to that point, and there was a recurring criticism that the tracks were too alike. When the double A-side Crybaby (featuring Snoop Dogg)/Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme) became her first single to peak outside the U.S. top twenty, Carey accused Sony of under promoting it: The political situation in my professional career is not positive ... I'm getting a lot of negative feedback from certain corporate people, she wrote on her official website.
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