Nick Cannon isn’t the only one rushing to Mariah Carey’s defense. Busta Rhymes is showing support for his friend after Eminem attacked her on his new album.

The notorious rapper calls the songbird a “cunt” and a “whore” on Relapse’s “Bagpipes from Baghdad.” After the track surfaced on the Internet, Mariah’s husband wrote a scathing blog entry going at Eminem over the lyrics. Slim Shady claims the two had a romantic relationship, which Mariah has denied.

“Leave Mariah Carey alone. That’s my friend, man,” Busta tells staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud in response to Em’s remarks about his “I Know What You Want” collaborator. “At the end of the day, I don’t know what their situation was, so I can’t really speak on it.”

The blond MC’s connection with the pop diva has been brought up many times since the pair met in 2001. “I don’t even understand why this shit is resurfacing again,” adds Busta. “But for whatever it’s worth, I just hope they could be cool.”

The animated rap star, who will release his new album Back On My B.S. this Tuesday, has also worked with Eminem. The two joined forces on “I’ll Hurt You” and performed the remix to Busta’s “Touch It” at the 2006 BET Awards. “Eminem is my peoples as well. I got great relationships with both of them.”

–Reported by Monique “Marvelous Mo” Balcarran