Mariah Carey, 57, Sparks Concern After Appearing to 'Struggle to Walk' in Troubling New Video: 'Something Is Wrong'
Mariah Carey appeared to have difficulty walking while greeting fans in Brazil.
Nov. 13 2026, Published 1:05 p.m. ET
Mariah Carey sparked fears among fans after she appeared unsteady on her feet and seemingly "struggled to walk" while greeting crowds of well-wishers in São Paulo, Brazil, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The self-proclaimed Queen of Christmas, 57, usually commands the spotlight as the festive season approaches, but her tentative steps and apparent reliance on an assistant to navigate a short distance left fans worried.
Mariah Carey Appeared to Struggle to Walk While Greeting Fans
Videos out of Brazil showed the diva needing to hold an assistant's hand while walking.
Carey was captured in multiple videos taken on different days appearing to struggle as she climbed out of a large, blacked-out SUV, relying on a burly bodyguard to help hoist her from her seat and steady her as she got to her feet.
From there, the Dreamlover hitmaker held an assistant's hand as she took small steps across the short distance to a line of roped-off autograph seekers.
In one video, Carey wore skin-tight black pants and a matching leather motorcycle jacket. In another clip, she donned a gold micro-mini dress so short it was a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen. The songbird also donned the same oversized, dark sunglasses, concealing much of her face behind the heavy frames.
Mariah Carey Kicking Off Christmastime Performances
Mariah Carey is making her annual Christmas promotional push with two concerts in Brazil.
Never one to sacrifice glamour for comfort, Carey rocked thigh-high boots with towering four to five-inch heels, which appeared to make her already tentative steps even more challenging – especially in the rainy weather.
The Grammy-winning diva could be heard murmuring "thank you" to adoring fans as she signed a handful of autographs and let out an "oh wow" when an admirer handed her a stuffed toy as a gift.
'Does She Have Some Kind of Mobility Issue?'
Some fans worried that Mariah Carey walked more like a woman in her 80s than in her late 50s.
In videos posted on X, Carey's movements sparked a wave of mixed reactions among her Lambs, with some worried that "something is wrong" with the All I Want for Christmas Is You songstress.
"The diva is all stiff but still rocking heels, I want to grow old like that," one fan cheered.
"Dude, does she have some kind of mobility issue???" a second person wondered.
"She moves just like an 85-year-old lady," a third user remarked.
Meanwhile, a fourth person speculated, "She wore nothing but stilettos for so long that she cannot walk normally."
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Marey Carey 'Hardly Ever Moves' Even When Performing
Mariah Carey is known for not moving much in concerts.
However, a number of fans who saw Carey's 2025 Las Vegas residency and her Christimastime in Vegas in December 2025 pointed out that her lack of mobility was nothing new.
"This is how she performed in Vegas – she hardly moved. She was carted, carried, wheeled, pushed – ANYTHING besides moving her OWN across that stage," a concertgoer noted.
Carey has spent years laughing off speculation about her seemingly shaky walking skills.
During a 2024 interview, the New York native was asked to name the wildest rumor she'd ever heard about herself and burst into giggles as she recalled, "One was that I can’t walk by myself, or something like that, like I can’t be upright and walk."
Even as far back as 2007, Carey noted that she's lived in high heels for most of her life, telling The Times, "I guess I'm a heel girl. I can run in them. I could swim in them if necessary."
She went on to add, "I can't wear flat shoes; they give me blisters. My babysitter used to laugh at me because when I was 12, I would always tiptoe. I couldn't walk flat."
