Mariah Carey scored a decisive legal victory Monday when a judge dismissed the $20 million lawsuit filed against her by her brother, Morgan Carey. He had accused the singer of defaming him through statements published in her 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, as reported by the Daily Mail.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Leslie A. Stroth ruled that Morgan had not sufficiently demonstrated that Mariah acted with “actual malice.”

The legal standard at issue concerned whether she knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.

Mariah Carey has won the dismissal of her brother Morgan Carey’s defamation lawsuit over her bestselling memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey.

The judge ruled that Morgan failed to provide enough evidence that Mariah knowingly lied or recklessly disregarded the truth. https://t.co/RrQeBetFtx — Fan | Mariah Carey Charts (@chartmariah) October 19, 2026

Morgan’s lawsuit challenged claims in the memoir concerning alleged prison time and cocaine sales. He denied all the allegations Mariah made about him in the book and sought damages over the passages he considered defamatory.

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One passage cited in the lawsuit stated that Morgan had “discreetly supplied the beautiful people with their powdered party favors.” It was among the claims that remained central to the legal dispute after most of his original allegations were previously dismissed.

In her ruling, Stroth found that Morgan “has not sufficiently pleaded actual malice on the part of” Mariah under New York anti-SLAPP laws. His arguments about the memoir’s creation and publication did not satisfy the required standard, according to the decision.

Morgan had claimed Mariah “was more concerned with the 'commercial viability' of her memoir than verifying the truth of her statements.” The judge concluded that this contention fell short of establishing actual malice.

Stroth also found that Morgan had not shown that Mariah relied on information from “anonymous and/or unverifiable” sources. He likewise failed to establish that she “made such statements with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for the truth.”

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Those shortcomings led the court to dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety. The ruling delivered a complete victory to Mariah in the defamation case, although Morgan’s legal team indicated that the dispute might continue through an appeal.

Mariah’s attorney, John Rosenberg, told Billboard that “Ms. Carey is gratified that the Court recognized that her memoir addresses significant issues of public interest and dismissed her brother's defamation claims in their entirety.”

Rosenberg added that the singer “believes the importance of the Court's decision goes well beyond her own interests in this particular litigation as it confirms that authors must be afforded broad protection when they speak out on matters of public concern.”

Richard Altman, the attorney representing Morgan, said his client’s side was likely to appeal Monday’s dismissal. “We respectfully disagree with today's decision as being inconsistent with prior rulings in the case,” he told Billboard.

Morgan initially filed the lawsuit against the All I Want for Christmas Is You singer in 2021. His complaint identified eight separate portions of The Meaning of Mariah Carey that he claimed had defamed him.

Judge Barbara Jaffe, who was initially assigned to the case, dismissed 14 of Morgan’s 16 claims in 2022. She permitted him to proceed with claims involving the passages about narcotics and incarceration.

Jaffe later retired while Morgan was amending his legal complaint, and Stroth was subsequently assigned to the case. Morgan, who has a background in fitness, has been largely estranged from Mariah since 1994 following a dispute between the siblings.

The latest ruling arrived more than two years after the family experienced the deaths of Mariah’s mother, Patricia, 87, and sister Alison, 63. Both women died on August 24, 2024, and Mariah later issued a statement acknowledging the losses.

“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend,” Mariah said. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.”

She continued, “I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed. I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”

Representatives for both sides were contacted for further comment following the dismissal. For now, the judgment ends Morgan’s case at the trial court level, while his attorney’s response leaves open the possibility of an appeal.

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