Mariah Carey was none too happy when she discovered that rapper Nicki Minaj would be joining her at the judges’ table on this season’s American Idol, reportedly hanging up on producers and storming out of the studio in a hail of Peruvian Swordtail butterflies and Hello Kitty accessories. TMZ says:

We’re told [Mariah] hung up the phone when she was told Nicki was the top candidate.

Sources [said] Mariah was led to believe she would be the only woman on the judge’s panel. Choosing Nicki would not only crush that expectation, it would add insult to injury because Nicki (29) is a lot younger than Mariah (42).

Some of the honchos believe it’s a mistake to have 2 women and a man on the panel, and a 4th male judge would be necessary.

They’re [also] worried if the judge’s end up being Mariah, Nicki and Randy, middle America might not welcome the blackout.

Yep, can’t have too many women or blacks sitting behind the table, or you risk alienating the valuable late nineteenth-century plantation owner demographic. “And once you let in the women and the coloreds, the Jews and the homosexuals aren’t far behind,” Representative Todd Akin was later quoted as saying.

Forte Forte’s cotton strapless dress has the same crotchet top and full pleated maxi skirt as Mariah’s, but it’s “tobacco” instead of “poo brown.”

In Louisiana filming The Butler yesterday:

PHOTO CREDIT: Pacific Coast News