New papers have surfaced in Mariah Carey's $3 million legal feud with her former assistant, Lianna Shakhnazarian (aka "Azarian"), in New York.
While it's unclear what sparked the filing to appear two months after Mariah's legal action against her former employee was first reported by TMZ, it seems Mimi believes Lianna was expected to serve as a "loyal ally" but ended up acting like "an opportunist, a voyeur, a Peeping Thomasina and an extortionist," according to Page Six.
The papers further allege that Mariah paid Lianna $327,000 a year after giving her an opportunity to advance beyond the clothing store gig where she'd been working previously.
"Azarian delighted in the perquisites of luxurious international travel, fine dining, appearance on Carey's television programs, and the excitement of working for and being in daily intimate contact with an internationally renowned artist and personality," the papers claim.
"Unsatisfied with her extraordinary compensation, access and lifestyle, Azarian sought to grow her wealth by robbing Carey of her privacy, Azarian secretly videotaped Carey engaged in intimate acts that, if revealed, would be personally embarrassing and professionally damaging to Carey," the action continues.
The suit claims Lianna told "a colleague" she intended to keep the videos as "an insurance policy" with which she could extort Mariah and "buy a big house."
Lianna was allegedly fired in 2017 after working for the singer for two years, at which time Mariah claims Lianna threatened to go public with the videos if she was not paid $8 million.
Mariah goes on to accuse Lianna of breaking the non-disclosure agreement she signed at the start of her employment for the singer. Mimi's suit reportedly claims breach of contract and demands a judge prevent Lianna from making the videos public.
Shortly after Mariah's lawsuit was reported in January, Lianna fired back with a lawsuit of her own, claiming Mariah's then-manager Stella Bulochnikov abused her emotionally, physically and psychologically.
Mariah cut ties with both Lianna and Stella in 2017. She settled a third lawsuit with Stella last April after Stella claimed Mariah sexually harassed her and owed her millions in commissions.