Mariah Carey says she was 'controlled' in her first marriage

July 9 (UPI) -- Mariah Carey says she had "no freedom" during her first marriage.

The 49-year-old singer discussed her relationship with former Sony Music head Tommy Mottola in the August issue of Cosmopolitan.

Carey married Mottola, who is 20 years her senior, in June 1993. Carey had released her self-titled debut studio album in 1990 and was on the rise in her career.

"You might want to picture a child bride," she told the magazine. "There was a conscious effort to keep me as this all-American, whatever that means, girl. It was very controlled. There was no freedom for me as a human being. It was almost like being a prisoner."

Carey and Mottola split in 1997 after four years of marriage. Mottola said in his 2013 book, Hitmaker: The Man and His Music, that his relationship with Carey was "absolutely wrong and inappropriate."

"[I'm] truly sorry for any discomfort or pain that all of my good intentions inevitably caused her, and most of all for the scars it left on my two oldest children," he wrote, referencing his kids from his first marriage.

Carey was married to actor Nick Cannon from 2008 to 2016 and is now dating Bryan Tanaka, both of whom are her junior. She addressed her rumored preference for younger men in the new interview.

"I haven't had that many, but there has been a variety pack," the star said. I've only been with five people in my life, so I'm kind of a prude, honestly, compared to most others in the field."

Carey last released the album Caution in November. The album includes the singles "With You" and "A No No."