The Guardian: Mariah Carey Wins Dismissal of Her Brother's Memoir Defamation Case

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A memoir in court

A New York judge has dismissed Morgan Carey's defamation lawsuit over his sister Mariah Carey's 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, The Guardian reported. Morgan sued in 2021, saying the book falsely portrayed him as a violent drug dealer who had been in prison.

The standard that decided it

According to the paper, Judge Leslie Stroth found in a filing on Monday that Morgan had not shown his sister knew her statements were false or recklessly disregarded the truth. That is the actual malice standard required in matters of public interest, and the judge called his belief that she felt ill will toward him insufficient proof.

An earlier ruling in 2022 had already thrown out 14 of his 16 original claims and all claims against the publisher, Macmillan.

What comes next

Mariah Carey's lawyer, John Rosenberg, told People the court recognised that the memoir addresses issues of public interest. Morgan's attorney, Richard Roth, told Variety he would appeal again, so the dismissal may not be the last word.

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A memoir in court

The standard that decided it

What comes next

Comments

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