Cast members Mariah Carey (L) and Lenny Kravitz pose during a photocall for the film "Precious".

Actor/rapper Nick Cannon has laughed off rumours he is angry at his wife Mariah Carey for her close friendship with Lenny Kravitz, insisting the rocker is part of the family.

Carey showed her affection for Kravitz recently when she publicly lobbied her new bosses at American Idol and suggested hiring her pal to join her as a judge on the hit U.S. reality show instead of rapper Nicki Minaj, who is said to be close to finalising a deal to appear on the panel.

The R&B superstar tweeted a photo of herself with the American Woman hitmaker and wrote, "AmericanIdol What's going on? need the info!! What about this combo? if we could ever get him to do it!"

Kravitz, who is co-starring with Carey in new movie The Butler, welcomed the idea and enthusiastically replied, "MariahCarey AmericanIdol Girl, we've known each other since we were teenagers. How fun would that be?!"

Their close relationship prompted U.S. tabloid editors to suggest Cannon had become jealous about the duo's cosy friendship, but the America's Got Talent host has since taken to Twitter to dismiss the claims.

He writes, "It's funny how the media just make up stuff. They said i'm mad because my wife suggested LennyKravitz for idol. That's our Fam! idiots".