Highlights
- A NY judge dismissed Morgan Carey’s $20M defamation lawsuit against his sister Mariah Carey.
- The judge ruled Morgan failed to prove Mariah acted with “actual malice” in her 2020 memoir.
- Mariah’s lawyer celebrated the win, but Morgan’s legal team says they plan to appeal the decision.
Mariah Carey just scored a major victory in the endless legal saga surrounding her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. A New York judge tossed out the remaining claims in her brother Morgan Carey‘s $20 million defamation lawsuit. He sued her in May 2021, furious about how the bestselling book portrayed him.
Morgan claimed the memoir wrecked his reputation. He alleged the book made him out to be a violent cocaine trafficker. He insisted he was neither violent nor possessed a criminal record. But Justice Stroth of the New York State Supreme Court essentially said Morgan didn’t bring the receipts.
The judge ruled Morgan couldn’t prove his pop-star sister acted with “actual malice.” Justice Stroth dropped the hammer, stating, “Plaintiff has not sufficiently pleaded actual malice on the part of [Mariah].”
The judge elaborated, “Plaintiff fails to provide any proof that [Mariah] made such statements with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard of their falsity or with reckless disregard for the truth.”
Even if they don’t get along, the court didn’t care. “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,” the judge continued.
Mariah is naturally thrilled to leave this mess behind. Her lawyer, John Rosenberg, issued a victorious statement. Rosenberg said Carey 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.”
Morgan, however, isn’t ready to let it go. His lawyer, Richard Altman, fired back. “We respectfully disagree with today’s decision as being completely inconsistent with prior rulings in the case,” Altman stated. He added, “We intend to appeal it very soon.” He also told reporters, “So, we will go up to the First Department on appeal”.
Most of Morgan’s claims were already tossed in 2022, but he kept fighting. He had also whined that Mariah prioritized book sales over fact-checking. Mariah’s legal team successfully argued that failing to consult him didn’t prove malice.
The judge also previously noted Morgan failed to prove he suffered actual damages from the statements.
This family drama has been dragging on for five years. Mariah’s late sister, Alison, who died in 2024, also filed her own lawsuit over the book, though she never pursued it.
For now, though, the Queen of Christmas reigns supreme in the courtroom.
