EX-HUBBY DROVE MARIAH OFF THE EDGE

Shattered songbird Mariah Carey blames ex-husband Tommy Mottola for her recent breakdown and believes he’s trying to destroy her career!

Those are the startling accusations of Mariah’s brother, Morgan, and other well-placed sources.

They claim the head of Sony Records was so upset when Mariah walked out that he put her under intense surveillance and pressured radio stations not to play her records.

Finally, the pressure took its toll on Mariah, who had a spectacular and widely publicized breakdown at the end of July.

“I’ve moved to New York to protect Mariah from Tommy Mottola and his goons,” Morgan Carey, a bodybuilder, told The ENQUIRER in an exclusive interview. “To get to her, they’ll have to first get past her big brother! Mariah is now recovering at our mother’s home. She’s getting the rest she needs, the sleep she needs and she’s eating right,” he said.

“There have been death threats, warnings to program directors nationwide, prank phone calls to her residence, physical and electronic surveillance, attempts at intimidation of her staff and a vicious public relations assault, all apparently orchestrated by Tommy,” Morgan elaborated in a shockingly detailed statement he posted on the Internet.

“There is no doubt in my mind, or the minds of anyone close to Mariah, that the primary cause of the agitation and anxiety which brought on her collapse was the repeated attacks upon her by her ex-husband.

“He had his people watching and calling the house and Mariah was uncomfortable sleeping in her own home,” said Mariah’s brother.

“While booze and pressures of work were major factors in Mariah’s breakdown, so was a determined attempt by Tommy Mottola to destroy her,” claims a close friend of Mariah.

“Mariah believes that control freak Tommy couldn’t bear the thought that she walked out on him, leaving the marriage and then leaving his company. He’s vowed to destroy Mariah, using every trick in the business book of dirty tricks. He would even sabotage her releases for his own record label by giving other artists on the same Sony label better treatment and more publicity.

“After she left Sony and signed a $118-million contract with Virgin Records, Mottola really went into high gear to destroy her.”

Tommy Mottola told The ENQUIRER: “I am deeply saddened by Mariah’s recent illness and I remain completely supportive of her. Any allegation that I have hindered her career, now or in the past, is completely untrue.”

However, Mariah is so concerned, she hired famed private detective Jack Palladino to prove the sabotage.

“Her belief is that Tommy is attempting to control her career, her future and her life,” said Palladino.

— BEVERLY WILLISTON and JOHN SOUTH