Mariah Carey‘s older brother, Morgan Carey is suing the US singer for “extreme mental anguish” which he claims was caused by remarks in her new memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.
The singer was previously sued by her sister Alison for $1.25 million in February for similar claims. She had claimed the memoir’s allegations were “cruel and outrageous”.
In Morgan‘s lawsuit which was filed in New York Supreme Court on March 3; he alleged that specific passages written about him were false and defamatory. Co-author, Angela Davis, Andy Cohen Books, and Macmillan Publishing Group LLC were also listed as defendants.
“Many passages about him in the Book are false and defamatory, personally invasive and painful, and have caused serious damage to his reputation and to his personal and business affairs,” the lawsuit read.
The Meaning of Mariah Carey was published in September 2020 and sparked a media flurry over new details about the pop star’s personal life. It included a candid look into her childhood, early career, and previous marriage to Sony Music executive, Tony Mottola.
The lawsuit lists several memoir passages that suggested Morgan was physically violent. In one passage, Mariah described a physical fight between Morgan and their father.
“It took twelve cops to pull my brother and father apart,” the memoir read. “It was also the first time I witnessed the possibility that a member of my family could brutally die in front of my eyes. Or that I could die too. I wasn’t yet four years old.”
The lawsuit alleged that the “clichéd and racially charged portrayal of two Black males” fighting never happened.
Another passage alleged that Morgan was physically aggressive towards their mother and characterized him as “the Big Bad Wolf.”
“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,” the book said. “I never felt safe.”
The lawsuit argued that Morgan has “deep affection” for their mother and that passage was false.
“As a direct and proximate result of the defamatory statements published by defendants and of the malicious acts of humiliation, embarrassment, and vilification of his character, plaintiff 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,” the lawsuit read.
Morgan did not seek a specific amount of money but asked for “judicial determination” that the passages of false and defamatory. He’s also sought to undo the damage created by the alleged narrative.
The Carey family has remained estranged in recent years, with Mariah referring to her siblings as her “ex-brother” and “ex-sister.”
In an August 2020 interview with Vulture, Mariah said both her siblings are “very broken.”
“I have forgiveness in my heart, and so I forgive them. But I am not trying to invite anybody to come hang out over here,” she said. “I think they’re very broken, and I feel sad for them.”