Mariah Carey has secured a major legal victory after a New York court dismissed a $20 million defamation lawsuit filed against her by her older brother, Morgan Carey, over claims made in her bestselling 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, per thewrap.com.
In a ruling issued on October 19, Justice Leslie A. Stroth of the New York State Supreme Court found that Morgan Carey failed to establish that the Grammy Award-winning artist acted with “actual malice” when detailing her upbringing and family history in the book.
The decision concludes a five-year legal struggle stemming from the publication of the memoir, in which Morgan Carey alleged that his sister’s depictions of him damaged his reputation and caused financial harm exceeding $20 million.
Following the ruling, the singer’s legal team welcomed the judgment, emphasising the broader legal precedent established by the decision regarding freedom of personal recollection and public expression. Her lawyer, John Rosenberg, stated that his client “believes the importance of the court’s decision goes well beyond her own interests.”
The memoir, released in September 2020, topped bestseller lists globally while chronicling Carey’s rise to fame and detailing turbulent dynamics within her family. Under United States defamation law, public figures and individuals involved in matters of public interest must meet a high legal threshold, proving that statements were made with clear knowledge of their falsity or reckless disregard for the truth.