Mariah Carey obtained the dismissal of the defamation claims her brother Morgan brought over her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. The ruling on 19 in October ends the lawsuit at this stage, after five years of litigation, although the plaintiff’s lawyer announced plans to appeal.
Judge Leslie A. Stroth of the New York State Supreme Court ruled that Morgan failed to meet the requirement of substantiating actual malice. That standard requires showing that a false statement was made knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth; pointing to a deteriorated family relationship is not enough.
Morgan had challenged various passages in the book, published in 2020, arguing that they damaged his reputation. He also maintained that the singer had prioritized the commercial success of her memoir over verifying what it said. The judge concluded that those arguments did not provide sufficient evidence to meet the required standard and allow the case to proceed.
The dispute began in 2021 and had already passed an initial judicial review. In 2022, several of the claims were dismissed, but two passages remained subject to litigation. After the judge who initially handled the case retired, it was assigned to Stroth, who focused her review on the actual malice requirement.
John Rosenberg, Mariah’s lawyer, said the singer welcomed the ruling. Her defense highlighted the recognition that the memoir addresses matters of public interest and presented the decision as an important protection for authors writing about such topics.
For his part, Richard Altman, Morgan’s lawyer, expressed disagreement, saying the ruling is inconsistent with previous decisions in the case. He announced that he would seek to appeal: for now, that is a step planned by his defense, not an appeal confirmed as filed.
Image: Mariah Carey at the Tribeca Film Festival, in April 2008. File photo: David Shankbone / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
