American Idol Judge Harry Connick Jr. Fires Back at Mariah Carey for Idol Comments [VIDEO]

Mariah Carey's recent comments about working on American Idol in Season 12 did not sit well with new judge Harry Connick Jr., who will be at the judges' table for Season 13 when the show debuts on Jan. 15.

Carey had a very public Twitter feud with fellow judge Nicki Minaj last season that spilled onto the show. During an interview with HOT 97 radio on Wednesday, she said the following about her one-season experience on American Idol:

"Honestly, I hated it. I thought it was going to be a three-person panel. They gave me a nice dangling monetary moment, and I was just like, 'Okay. Randy Jackson will be there. I've known him forever. He used to play bass for me. Like, this isn't a big deal. This will be nothing.' But it wasn't that. It was like going to work every day in hell with Satan."

Carey then tried to laugh off her comments and added, "Naw, I'm just playing. It didn't affect me that much. I was disappointed."

Connick jumped on Twitter on Thursday to defend his new show:

"@MariahCarey - Must've been hard to judge in hell. Idol XIII: Welcome to heaven! @JLo @KeithUrban @RyanSeacrest @AmericanIdol #idolXIII"

He then followed that up with a much softer tweet:

"btw, i LOVE @MariahCarey !!! no hate for that sweet lady - i just feel bad that she didn't have what we have - the best @AmericanIdol ever!"

To be fair, Carey did have some positive things to say about American Idol:

"You know what I loved? I loved the contestants. And some of them that were so good-and also really good people, you could tell-it was disappointing when [the judges] would, for political reasons, not put people through."

What do you think? Should Connick have issued his comments publicly? Or did he do the right thing in defending his new show? Let us know in the comments below.