Mariah Carey has scored a legal victory over her brother, Morgan Carey, after a judge dismissed his defamation lawsuit over claims discussed in her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. According to Billboard, the judge ruled that Morgan had failed to meet the legal requirements necessary to pursue his claims, bringing the case to a close unless the dismissal is overturned on appeal.
The ruling centers on whether Morgan sufficiently demonstrated that Mariah knowingly made false statements about him in her book. In the decision cited by Billboard, the judge found that he had not adequately pleaded actual malice, a key legal standard in certain defamation cases.
“The Court finds that Plaintiff has not sufficiently pleaded actual malice on the part of Defendant,” the judge wrote, according to the report.
The judge also found that Morgan had failed to provide evidence that his sister knowingly made false statements about him in the memoir.
The memoir at the center of the dispute
Morgan filed the lawsuit over passages in The Meaning of Mariah Carey, published in 2020, that he argued defamed him. The book included accounts suggesting he had sold cocaine and engaged in violence during their childhood.
Those passages became the basis of the legal dispute between the siblings, with Morgan seeking to hold Mariah responsible for statements he challenged as defamatory.
The latest ruling does not amount to a trial verdict resolving every factual dispute about the siblings’ history. Instead, it addresses whether Morgan’s lawsuit sufficiently met the legal requirements to proceed.
Mariah Carey’s attorney responds
Mariah’s attorney, John Rosenberg, welcomed the decision in comments to Billboard, saying the court had recognized the public-interest issues addressed in the memoir.
“Ms. 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,” Rosenberg told the publication.
The dismissal gives Mariah a favorable outcome in a dispute that has followed the publication of her memoir, which offered personal accounts of her life and family relationships.
Morgan Carey plans to appeal
Morgan’s attorney told Billboard that he intends to appeal the judge’s decision, meaning the legal fight may not be over.
An appeal would give Morgan an opportunity to challenge the dismissal through the next stage of the legal process. No further details about the planned appeal were included in the supplied report.
For now, the ruling stands in Mariah’s favor. The next development will depend on whether Morgan follows through with his appeal and how the court responds.
