Mariah Carey must face accusations that she defamed her brother in her memoir, a judge ruled earlier this week (February 15).
Last year, Carey’s older brother sued the singer for defamation and emotional distress which he alleges was caused by her best-selling autobiography, The Meaning Of Mariah Carey.
Carey’s brother claims to have suffered âextreme mental anguishâ and âserious damage to his reputationâ as a result of the book.
While the judge did dismiss numerous allegations made by her brother relating to several passages in the book, she did rule that Morgan Carey could sue his sister for defamation over two passages that claimed he had sold drugs and had “been in the system”.
In her decision, Justice Barbara Jaffe wrote: âAlthough Carey maintains that the phrase âsometimes drug dealingâ is a ârhetorical epithet,â in light of the earlier statement that plaintiff had supplied clubgoers with âpowdered party favours,â the average reader could understand this phrase to mean that plaintiff had committed a serious crime.”
She continued: âThe context reasonably permits an average reader to conclude that Carey refers in this statement to cocaine, which is a controlled substance, the possession and/or sale of which is proscribed by New York law…It thus implies that plaintiff committed a serious crime and is sufficient to support [an] action for defamation per se.”
A solicitor said Morgan was âpleasedâ by the judge’s decision. NMEÂ has reached out to representatives of Mariah Carey for comment.
Back in January, Carey announced the release of her first childrenâs book, The Christmas Princess, which will arrive later this year.
Announcing the new book on Instagram, Carey described it as âa fairytale for holiday lovers of all agesâ.
The post Mariah Carey to face defamation accusations from her brother over memoir claims appeared first on NME.
