JUDGE DISMISSES LAWSUIT AGAINST MARIAH CAREY OVER MEMOIR

A New York judge has dismissed Morgan Carey’s defamation lawsuit against his sister, Mariah Carey, over her 2020 memoir, *The Meaning of Mariah Carey*. Morgan filed the case in 2021, seeking $20 million over passages he said falsely portrayed him as violent and involved in drug dealing. He disputed the memoir’s claims and said he had no criminal record. The judge found that Morgan had not shown “actual malice”, the legal standard applied to public figures in the case. Morgan’s lawyer said he plans to appeal.

The memoir called Morgan her “ex-brother” and described him as a “sometimes drug dealing, been-in-the-system, drunk-ass brother”. Morgan also challenged a passage alleging that he had physically abused their mother, calling it “a false and defamatory lie”. In 2022, Judge Barbara Jaffe dismissed 14 of the 16 claims in his original complaint and all claims against publisher Macmillan. She allowed claims concerning alleged cocaine sales in the 1980s and the phrase “been in the system” to proceed. Morgan later amended his complaint.

In dismissing the remaining claims, the judge rejected Morgan’s argument that Mariah Carey had put book sales ahead of accuracy. The judge said he had provided no proof that she knew her statements were false. Morgan said the memoir had “ruined” him and left him unable to find steady work. He also alleged that a film he co-wrote was cancelled after its publication because a producer feared angering his sister. Mariah Carey’s lawyer, John Rosenberg, said she was “gratified” that the court had dismissed the claims in full.