Mariah Carey is walking away victorious from a $20 million courtroom battle with her brother after a New York judge dismissed his defamation lawsuit over her memoir.
In 2021, Morgan Carey accused his famous sister of damaging his reputation with stories published in The Meaning of Mariah Carey, taking issue with several passages in the 2020 bestseller that allegedly portrayed him as violent and involved in cocaine trafficking.
Justice Leslie A. Stroth of the New York State Supreme Court ruled that he had not sufficiently demonstrated that Mariah published the disputed statements knowing they were false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
“Plaintiff fails to provide any proof that [Mariah] made such statements with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard of their falsity,” Stroth wrote, according to the reported decision.
The judge also addressed Morgan’s allegations of hostility between the siblings, finding that personal animosity alone did not establish the legal standard required for his case.
Mariah’s attorney, John Rosenberg, told Rolling Stone that the singer was “gratified” by the decision, particularly the court’s recognition that her memoir addresses matters of public interest.
