Photo: CBS This Morning via YouTube (frame grab).
Five years of courtroom drama is finally over for Mariah Carey. On Monday, October 19, New York Supreme Court Justice Leslie A. Stroth dismissed the last remaining defamation claims in the lawsuit brought by Mariah’s brother, Morgan Carey, over her bestselling 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.
Morgan first sued in 2021, saying the book damaged his reputation. Most of his claims were thrown out back in 2022, but two passages hung on for years — one suggesting he sold cocaine back in the day, and another suggesting he had done time in prison. This week, Judge Stroth put an end to all of it, ruling that Morgan failed to plead “actual malice” — the legal standard that requires proof Mariah knowingly made false statements or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
Photo: CBS This Morning via YouTube (frame grab).
Mariah’s lawyer, John Rosenberg, said the singer is “gratified” by the decision, noting that the ruling protects authors who speak out on matters of public interest. In other words, telling your own life story — in your own book — just got a strong legal stamp of protection.
Watch Mariah talk about the memoir that started it all:
Cover art: ‘The Meaning of Mariah Carey’ (Andy Cohen Books / Henry Holt and Company).
The Meaning of Mariah Carey, written with Michaela Angela Davis, was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller when it dropped in September 2020, with Mariah opening up like never before about her childhood, her family, and everything she survived on the road to superstardom.
Morgan’s attorney says he plans to appeal, so the family saga may not be 100 percent finished. But for now, the scoreboard reads clearly: Mariah told her story, the court backed her right to tell it, and the five-year fight is over. Another win for the Queen of Christmas — right on time for her season.
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