Dick Clark Productions fires back at Mariah Carey's camp's claims

Oh, the drama.

2017 is definitely starting off with fireworks for Mariah Carey and Dick Clark Productions. And not the good kind.

After Carey's camp came to her defense early Sunday, blaming technical difficulties on producers, the production company issued its own statement:

"As the premier producer of live television events for nearly 50 years, we pride ourselves on our reputation and long-standing relationships with artists. To suggest that dcp (Dick Clark Productions), as producer of music shows including the American Music Awards, Billboard  Music Awards, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and Academy of Country Music Awards, would ever intentionally compromise the success of any artist is defamatory, outrageous and frankly absurd," the statement said.

"In very rare instances there are of course technical errors that can occur with live television, however, an initial investigation has indicated that dcp had no involvement in the challenges associated with Ms. Carey’s New Year’s Eve performance. We want to be clear that we have the utmost respect for Ms. Carey as an artist and acknowledge her tremendous accomplishments in the industry."

The New Year's Eve Rockin' Eve performance rocked social media when Carey couldn't seem to keep up with a prerecorded track.

Mariah Carey botches NYE performance, leaves stage

After stumbling through one song, the show's headliner stopped singing We Belong Together after another mishap when she lowered the microphone from her mouth, but vocals kept playing.

“It just doesn’t get any better,” she told the crowd and left the stage.

Her publicist, Nicole Perna,  told the Associated Press:  "Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to continue with the performance, given the circumstances."

According to AP, Perna said that Carey's earpiece wasn't working and she flagged the issue to the production team but was told it would be OK when she got onstage.

"However, that was not the case, and they were again told that her earpiece was not working," Perna said. "Instead of endeavoring to fix the issue so that Mariah could perform, they went live."

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Carey herself tweeted sad and happy emojis and a clip of herself shrugging. Her message read in part: "Have a happy and healthy new year everybody! Here's to making more headlines in 2017."

The AP also reported that a person familiar with the production of the show who asked for anonymity to speak about the incident said all of the other performers, including Gloria Estefan, rehearsed onsite for their sets but Carey had a stand-in for her rehearsal even though she was there, atypical for the show's performers.