I don't know her

Similar to the conflict instigated by the media regarding her relationship with Whitney Houston, American singer Mariah Carey's feelings toward Jennifer Lopez became a subject of gossip in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

[3][a] Following these events, Carey responded to Lopez's comments about sleeping eight hours per night in a 2001 interview with journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis: "If I had the luxury of not actually having to sing my own songs I'd do that too.

[9] While discussing the sampling controversy in her 2020 memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey, she described Lopez as a "female entertainer on [Sony] (whom I don't know)".

Weekly podcasters Lindsey Weber and Bobby Finger described it as an example of shade, Vogue's Alex Kessler said it was a snub, and CNN's Chloe Melas called it a diss.

[25] The Guardian's Issy Sampson and African American studies professor Alexander G. Weheliye considered "I don't know her" a means of insulting someone implicitly.

[26] Michelle Ruiz wrote in Vogue: "Now there is no more savage burn in Hollywood, no sharper way to declare yourself so utterly above it all, than to publicly pretend you exist in a world where your very famous counterpart does not.

HuffPost's Marina Fang likened Trump's comments about his relationships with lawyers Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort to the phrase.

[38] Referring to his denial of knowing mobster Felix Sater, commentator Symone Sanders deemed Trump "the Mariah Carey of politics ...

[39] After Trump said he never spoke with US ambassador Gordon Sondland, MSNBC host Ari Melber described him as employing the "Mariah Carey defense".

[42] Journalist Marina Hyde called it Carey's most famous quote,[43] Paper's Katherine Gillespie considered it her catchphrase,[44] and HuffPost's Cody Delbyck deemed it her doctrine.

[46] The Independent writer Louis Staples said "Carey's GIF-friendly moments have helped her make the transition from the era of CDs to the online landscape".

[49] Musicologist Lily E. Hirsch argued that the popular reaction to "I don't know her" made this diva image imbued with sexism and racism.

[50] Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Emily Lordi said Carey's use of the phrase shows how the diva is not necessarily a pro-feminist figure.

"[52] Ben Kaye of Consequence and Daniel Welsh of HuffPost UK said "I don't know her" contributed to Carey owning the title "Queen of Shade".