Yes, I think Madonna lashed out at Mariah 1) because she was the "safe pop princess" that she was rebelling against (and to rub salt in the wound, was massively successful with it). Probably when Mariah fought against the machine and started expressing herself how she wanted, Madonna stopped bashing her and probably started to respect her.
Mariah holds grudges though, and her dislike of Madonna from back then is still evident when she's asked about her because she still can't muster more than a backhanded compliment ("She's a legend, she's been around a long time and I'm happy for her"
). Not that I entirely blame her as I can be a bit like that as well.