Well, at least there are some honest people in the world? We're attempting to look at the bright side of things here.

Tommy Mottola, Mariah Carey's ex-husband and onetime manager, hasn't exactly denied accusations that he's "controlling" and "a Svengali," as Carey was once quoted as saying. The New York Post quoted him as written in his memoir, “If it seemed like I was controlling, I apologize. Was I obsessive? Yes. But that was also part of the reason for her success.”

As we previously told you, the couple, who divorced in 1997, didn't have the picture perfect marriage, and she even called it "a private hell," often referring to the mansion she shared with Mottola as a "Sing Sing" - after a prison - because he barely let her leave the house!

Appearing on 'TODAY' with Matt Lauer to promote his book 'Hitmaker: The Man and His Music," Mottola naturally commented on what Carey had to say about him, and his response may surprise you.

"I think anybody that's successful becomes obsessive about what they're trying to succeed at," said Mottola. "I have nothing but the greatest respect for her in the world.... I feel great about all the things she's achieved as a result of all the work that we did."

Mottola and Carey, who are 20 years apart, married during the time he began mentoring her to music superstardom, but the marriage only lasted five years. It's an act that he actually doesn't regret.

"You can never control sometimes what happens in your personal life, as we all know," he continued. "The good thing that came out of all of this is that she became one of the most successful superstars in the world."

While we think a controlling and obsessive behavior borders on the "uh, no" scale, we have a bit of a feeling that his nature only helped further Carey's career.

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