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$20 Million Defamation Lawsuit Over Mariah Carey Memoir Dismissed

Morgan Carey's lawsuit over his sister's bestselling memoir, "The Meaning of Mariah Carey," has been dismissed. He originally filed the $20 million defamation claim in 2021.

Hollywood Reporter Music·Oct 20, 2026·via Hollywood Reporter Music

$20 Million Defamation Lawsuit Over Mariah Carey Memoir Dismissed

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Mariah Carey on Monday won a long-running $20 million lawsuit alleging she defamed her brother in her bestselling memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey when a New York state court dismissed the suit.

Morgan Carey, brother to the iconic singer, first filed his lawsuit on May 28, 2021, claiming Mariah damaged his reputation in the 2020 memoir by portraying him as violent and accusing him of trafficking cocaine. In the ruling issued Monday, reported by Billboard and Rolling Stone , Justice Leslie A. Stroth of the New York State Supreme Court found that Morgan Carey failed to establish that his sister acted with actual malice.

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“Plaintiff has not sufficiently pleaded actual malice on the part of [Mariah],” Justice Stroth wrote, according to the reported ruling. “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.”

John Rosenberg, Mariah’s lawyer, told Rolling Stone in a statement that Mariah 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’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.”

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$20 Million Defamation Lawsuit Over Mariah Carey Memoir Dismissed

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