Mariah Carey Wins Five-Year Defamation Battle With Brother Over Memoir Allegations

Mariah Carey has won a five-year defamation battle against her brother after a New York judge dismissed his lawsuit over allegations in the singer's bestselling memoir that he sold cocaine and spent time in prison.

New York Supreme Court Justice Leslie A. Stroth dismissed Morgan Carey's remaining claims on Monday, October 19, 2026, finding that he failed to sufficiently allege that his sister knowingly made false statements or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. Morgan's attorney plans to appeal.

The dispute centered on passages in Carey's 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. Under New York's anti-SLAPP law, which protects speech involving matters of public interest, Morgan had to establish a sufficient basis for finding "actual malice," a legal standard requiring more than allegations that the statements were inaccurate.

Judge Stroth found that Morgan's claims fell short. He alleged that Mariah prioritized the memoir's "commercial viability" over verifying its contents and relied on anonymous or unverifiable sources. The judge concluded that those assertions failed to show she knew the statements were false or recklessly disregarded their accuracy.

Morgan filed the lawsuit in March 2021, challenging several passages describing his behavior and personal history. Among them was a claim that he supplied "powdered party favors" to people at New York nightclubs during the 1980s, along with a reference suggesting he had been incarcerated.

In February 2022, Justice Barbara Jaffe dismissed most of the allegations but allowed two defamation claims to proceed. The decision permitted Morgan to continue pursuing his case over the references to drug dealing and imprisonment, while dismissing the claims against the memoir's publishers.

The litigation continued after Jaffe retired and the case was reassigned to Stroth. The remaining claims ultimately failed under the actual malice standard, bringing the dispute in the trial court to an end.

Mariah's attorney, John Rosenberg, welcomed the dismissal, telling Billboard that the singer was pleased the court recognized her memoir as addressing matters of public interest. He said the decision reinforced legal protections for authors writing about such subjects.

Morgan's attorney, Richard Altman, disputed the outcome, arguing that it conflicted with earlier rulings allowing portions of the lawsuit to proceed. He said his client intends to appeal, leaving open the possibility that the siblings' legal dispute could continue in a New York appellate court.