Mariah Carey has hit back at her brother’s defamation lawsuit, claiming it was in the public interest for her to talk about him in her 2020 memoir.
Mariah’s older brother, Morgan Carey, took legal action against the singer earlier this year after he claimed she featured “malicious falsehoods” about him in her book, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey”, which was released last year.
Morgan accused Mariah of defamation and the intentional infliction of emotional distress following the release of the memoir, in which Mariah recounted a vicious fight between Morgan and their father, and said her brother was institutionalised when he was younger.
Mariah also wrote in her book that she “never felt safe” around her “troubled brother” because of his “unpredictable” rage.
But now, the “We Belong Together” hitmaker has now filed papers with the Manhattan Supreme Court to state her claims are not defamation, since the book’s message of her personal triumph over adversity is a matter of public interest.
Mariah’s claim means that a higher legal standard would be required of Morgan to prove defamation, and the singer claimed in her papers – which were filed on Friday – that Morgan lawsuit doesn’t meet those requirements.
The 51-year-old star says her story is of public interest because of her fame, and because she wanted to encourage young people who also face difficult upbringings.
Court papers obtained by Page Six read: “The story of Ms. Carey’s rise from a dysfunctional and sometimes violent family environment has significant public value, particularly to any young person who may find her/himself stuck in similarly harsh and dispiriting circumstances and who can benefit from the inspiration to employ their talents in pursuit of their dreams.”
In Morgan’s original filing, the man claimed that, as a result of the publication of the memoir, he has “suffered extreme mental anguish, outrage, severe anxiety about his future and his ability to support himself and his family, harm to his reputation and his earning capacity, embarrassment among his friends and associates, disruption of his personal life and loss of enjoyment of the ordinary pleasures of everyday life.”
And the suit argued that the damage allegedly caused by the ‘Fantasy’ singer was intentional, citing a pre-publication interview she did with Oprah Winfrey.
It stated: “She intended to damage plaintiff, stating ‘he drew first blood.’ She also publicly referred to plaintiff as her ‘ex-brother.’”
Morgan is not seeking a specific sum in compensation but is looking to undo damages through “judicial determination”.
