Mariah Carey just won a major round in her family feud. A judge threw out her brother Morgan Carey’s lawsuit over her 2020 memoir.
A judge dismissed brother Morgan Carey’s defamation lawsuit over her explosive memoir
Billboard first reported the ruling, and TMZ followed up. Judge Leslie A. Stroth dismissed Morgan’s case on Monday, October 19. Morgan did not meet the legal requirements to sue his sister.
Morgan sued over passages in Mariah’s 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. Some lines suggested he sold cocaine and spent time in prison. He first filed in 2021, a few months after the book hit No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
New York law requires public figures who sue for defamation to show “actual malice.” That means the writer lied on purpose. The judge said Morgan did not meet that standard. He argued that Mariah cared more about her book’s sales than the truth, and that her sources were anonymous. The judge said that was not enough, and that Morgan offered no proof she knew her statements were false.
Mariah’s attorney, John Rosenberg, said she is “gratified.” He said the ruling shows authors need broad protection when they write about matters of public concern. Morgan’s attorney, Richard Altman, plans to appeal. He called the decision “inconsistent with prior rulings in the case.”
The case has dragged on for years. In 2022, Judge Barbara Jaffe dismissed many of Morgan’s claims. She let two passages move forward. One said he sold “powdered party favors” to clubgoers in the 1980s. The other said he had “been in the system.” Morgan later amended his complaint. Jaffe then retired, and the case went to Judge Stroth. Morgan had also blamed Mariah’s “breakdowns” for their fallout in earlier court filings.
Mariah reportedly won $92,000 in legal fees last December after a court dismissed a lawsuit over her hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
