Mariah Carey Prevails in Brother’s $20 Million Memoir Lawsuit

“[Mariah] believes the importance of the court’s decision goes well beyond her own interests,” the singer’s lawyer, John Rosenberg, says

Mariah Carey scored a major legal victory in her five-year legal battle with her brother Morgan Carey, whose lawsuit alleging the singer defamed him in her memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” was dismissed.

In Hon. Leslie A. Stroth’s ruling, which was issued Monday and obtained by TheWrap, the New York State Supreme Court justice found that the pop star’s brother failed to prove that the “All I Want for Christmas” singer acted with “actual malice” with her memoir claims.

As we previously reported, Carey’s brother first filed the lawsuit over her memoir in May 2021, where he claimed that the singer had damaged his reputation by depicting him as a violent man and a “sometimes” drug dealer.

“[Morgan Carey] brings this action more in sorrow and disappointment in his sister’s betrayals and malicious falsehoods than in anger at them,” the filing stated at the time. “He is by no means envious of his sister’s enormous artistic and personal success, has enjoyed his own successes both professional and personal, and has always wished her well.”

Carey’s brother then claimed that the alleged damages caused by the bestselling book “exceed[ed] $20 million.”

“Plaintiff has not sufficiently pleaded actual malice on the part of [Mariah],” Justice Stroth wrote on Monday. “Plaintiff fails to provide any proof that [Mariah] made such statements with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for the truth. While plaintiff alleges that [Mariah] demonstrates ill will towards her brother, such statement is insufficient, and plaintiff has not satisfied the pleading requirement for actual malice.”

In response to the ruling, the singer’s lawyer told Rolling Stone, “ [Mariah] is gratified that the court recognized that her memoir addresses significant issues of public interest and dismissed her brother’s defamation claims in their entirety.”

He added that the Grammy-winner “believes the importance of the court’s decision goes well beyond her own interests in this particular litigation, as it confirms that authors must be afforded broad protection when they speak out on matters of public concern.”

The legal battle may not be over, however. Richard Altman, the lawyer representing Carey’s brother, told the outlet, “We respectfully disagree with today’s decision as being completely inconsistent with prior rulings in the case. We intend to appeal it very soon.”