Morgan Carey, the older brother of Mariah Carey, is suing the pop star for defamation and the intentional infliction of emotional distress as a result of the publication of “The Meaning of Mariah Carey.”
The lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court on March 3, alleges the memoir contains passages that are false and defamatory. Co-author Michaela Angela Davis, Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC and Andy Cohen Books are also listed as defendants.
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“[Morgan] brings this action more in sorrow and disappointment in his sister’s betrayals and malicious falsehoods than in anger at them,” the suit reads. “He is by no means envious of his sister’s enormous artistic and personal success, has enjoyed his own successes both professional and personal and has always wished her well.”
“The Meaning of Mariah Carey” first released in September 2020 and set off much buzz over newly revealed anecdotes, like that she had recorded a secret grunge album in 1995. Details of her marriage to Sony Music executive Tommy Mottola and his controlling behavior caused particular shock. She described one instance where he sent out an armed search party when she and rapper Da Brat went to Burger King for a quick bite to eat.
The court document lists a series of memoir passages that Morgan claims are false. As a result, he claims 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.”
Such passages include Mariah’s memories of a vicious fight between Morgan and their father and him being institutionalized as a young boy. In another passage, she likens her childhood to the classic fable “The Three Little Pigs.”
“My childhood was a series of fragile, unstable houses, one after the other, where inevitably the Big Bad Wolf, my troubled brother, would huff and puff and blow it all down,” she wrote. “I never felt safe. I never was safe. His rage was unpredictable; I never knew when it would come, or who or what it would devour.”
The suit also emphasizes that the damage was intentional, pointing out a pre-publication interview Mariah did with Oprah Winfrey. It reads: “She intended to damage plaintiff, stating ‘he drew first blood.’ She also publicly referred to plaintiff as her ‘ex-brother.’”
Morgan is not asking for a specific amount of money, but instead is looking to undo damages through “judicial determination.” His actions follow in the footsteps of their sister, Alison Carey, who also sued Mariah for emotional distress caused by the memoir. However, she is demanding $1.25 million in damages.
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