Mariah Carey 'swings axe sacking Anthony Burrell' after NYE flop

Mariah Carey has reportedly sacked her long-time creative director after her disastrous New Year's Eve performance in Times Square.

Entertainment Tonight reports that the We Belong Together singer decided that she and her creative director and tour choreographer/dancer, Anthony Burrell, were actually better apart.

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Ushering in the new year like... @mariahcarey @bryantanaka #dickclark #rehearsal #shades or just #shady

A post shared by anthonyburrell (@anthonyburrell) on Dec 31, 2016 at 2:56pm PST

"He's not being brought back [in 2017] for a number of reasons," a source close to Carey told ET.

Burrell was reportedly to blame for the alleged sound issues - Carey has said she could hear nothing out of her earpiece. That is despite a group of speakers around her and her backup dancers, including Burrell, not missing a beat.

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#FBF to MAriah Carey X-Mas at the beacon! Come check us out this year starting Monday Dae 5- Dec17 #lambily #alliwantforchristmas #mariahCareychriestmas ##nyc

A post shared by anthonyburrell (@anthonyburrell) on Dec 2, 2016 at 3:14pm PST

Burrell has not commented on his alleged firing.

He did however defend Carey on Twitter after her woeful performance.

I haven't been able to watch NYE performance. 30 sec from live TV, boss couldn't hear her own vocal in her in-ears from Mic. #heartbroken

— Anthony Burrell (@anthonyburrell) January 3, 2017

Sucks to see all of the hateful messages. Peep are so quick to judge, not knowing we were all in a state of panic.

— Anthony Burrell (@anthonyburrell) January 3, 2017

"I haven't been able to watch NYE performance. 30 sec from live TV, boss couldn't hear her own vocal in her in-ears from Mic. #heartbroken," he wrote. "Sucks to see all of the hateful messages ... Peep[s] are so quick to judge, not knowing we were all in a state of panic."

Carey pointed the finger at Dick Clark Productions, which produces the New Year's event, saying she was set up to fail.

The production company said any accusations that it would do that were "absurd."

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Rocked out on our last gig tonight! Thankful and happy to have my friends and family in the audience! It means a lot to have love ones watching you do what you love. Let's kill it #teamMC #mariahcarey #mariahcareychristmas #Lambily

A post shared by anthonyburrell (@anthonyburrell) on Dec 22, 2014 at 8:01pm PST