Mariah Carey/Instagram
Over the past few years, celebrity-endorsed alcohols have become all the rage. From George Clooney's tequila to Francis Ford Coppola's wine, you can always drink "with" your favorite stars. Now, Mariah Carey has released her own brand of booze - an Irish cream liqueur!
Mariah Carey Debuts Her Irish Cream Liqueur
Mariah Carey/Instagram
As stated, over the past few years, stars like Ryan Reynolds, Rita Ora, The Rock have debuted personal drink lines. And if you believed the Queen of Pop, Mariah Carey, wouldn't join the club, think again. As one of the most popular female musicians ever, Carey had to create her own alcohol. However, this is no strong tequila or gin. Instead, Carey created her own line of Black Irish cream liqueurs, velvety and smooth like her own voice. The idea came from her own lineage: she has a Black-Venezuelan father and an Irish mother.
"Having a white mother, and being forced to live in white neighborhoods, and feeling ashamed that there is nobody visibly Black there," Carey explained in 2020. "[However,] the truth is, I will never say I had the same experience as a darker-skinned woman."
While it might have been hard growing up, these days, Carey feels incredibly proud of her heritage. As such, the singer spent nearly two years creating her liqueur. "I am so excited to finally share this news with you all," Mariah stated in a press release. "I wanted to create something that embodies the holidays and gives everyone a reason to celebrate year-round, and I really think we have done that with Black Irish."
Instant Legal Issues
Darker Still Spirits Co Ltd.
Sadly for her, its unlikely that Carey's Black Irish Liqueur will take over the world as the next celebrity alcohol brand. Currently, fans can only pick up Carey's liqueur in the United States. Why? Well, apparently, for more than a year, Carey and her legal team have battled with an Irish company, Darker Still Spirits Co Ltd. You see, in the United Kingdom, Darker Still Spirits owns the trademark for Black Irish!
According to English newspaper The Currency, when Carey and Darker Still couldn't come up with a deal, she took them to court. Most recently, her attorneys tried to argue that the trademark had not been "put to continuous use" since 2015. Of course, Darker Still's Black Irish's very active Instagram puts a dent in her case. As a result, the Irish company's lawyers have now filed a 133-page response and fully plan on fighting the case.
Meanwhile, Carey's company hopes to have Black Irish available around the world soon. However, for the time being, fans will have to wait. "We do not currently have details on the distribution of Black Irish internationally but will certainly be in touch with any updates specific to the EU," a spokesperson for the brand told The Currency.
After all that, is anyone else ready for a drink - Black Irish Liqueur or otherwise?
