Which label dropped Mariah Carey after Glitter and bought out her contract?

Virgin Records dropped Mariah Carey after Glitter and bought out her contract. Carey had left Columbia Records in 2000 after completing her obligations there and signed Virgin Records America to a reported five-album, $100 million deal. The arrangement gave her unusually broad creative control over her music and film projects.

Glitter was intended to launch both a movie and a soundtrack built around an early-1980s setting. The project was delayed after Carey’s highly publicized health crisis, and the film and album were released in September 2001. Both performed below expectations, while the September 11 release date and intense negative publicity further complicated the rollout.

Virgin ultimately invoked a contract clause allowing it to exit the deal. The label terminated the agreement and paid Carey approximately $28 million, while also noting that it had already paid substantial sums under the contract. The settlement ended her brief Virgin period; she later signed with Island Records and established MonarC Entertainment. A common mix-up is Columbia, which was her previous major label, not the company that bought out the Virgin contract.