Mariah Carey has won a major legal victory in her brother Morgan Carey’s $20 million defamation lawsuit.
On Monday, a New York state court dismissed the $20 million defamation suit against the Fantasy singer, ending her brother’s long-running legal challenge over claims made in her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.
Morgan Carey first sued his famous sister on May 28, 2021, claiming her memoir portrayed him as a violent person and accused him of cocaine trafficking.
In a ruling issued, Justice Leslie A. Stroth of the New York State Supreme Court concluded that he had not established that Mariah Carey acted with actual malice, Billboard and Rolling Stone reported.
“Plaintiff has not sufficiently pleaded actual malice on the part of [Mariah],” Justice Stroth wrote, according to the reported ruling.
The judge added, “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. 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.”
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Mariah’s lawyer John Rosenberg said the singer was “gratified” by the decision, noting that the court recognized the memoir’s focus on important public-interest issues and rejected all of her brother’s defamation claims.
Morgan’s lawyer Richard Altman, however, told the outlet in a statement that they intend to appeal: “We respectfully disagree with today’s decision as being completely inconsistent with prior rulings in the case.”
