Mariah Carey is firing back after her brother Morgan filed a defamation lawsuit against her following the release of her memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey.
Morgan Carey, 61, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court in March, alleging several passages about him in the book are, ‘false and defamatory, personally invasive and painful.’
Carey shot back by filing a motion for the lawsuit to be dismissed on Friday, according to Page Six, claiming the passages were not meant to defame, but rather to inspire people to overcome their adversity.
Firing back: Mariah Carey is firing back after her brother Morgan filed a defamation lawsuit against her following the release of her memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey
Book: Morgan Carey, 61, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court in March, alleging several passages about him in the book are, ‘false and defamatory, personally invasive and painful’
The filing alleges that the lawsuit should be tossed out because the book’s message of triumphing over adversity is a matter of ‘public interest.’
This means that Morgan would have to meet a higher legal standing to prove defamation, with the singer’s filing claiming his lawsuit doesn’t meet that standard.
The filing also said that that the story is of public interest due to her level of fame, and that she wants to use these stories to encourage those from difficult upbringings.
Public interest: The filing alleges that the lawsuit should be tossed out because the book’s message of triumphing over adversity is a matter of ‘public interest’
‘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,’ reads an excerpt of the filing from Carey’s lawyers.
Morgan, who now lives in Maui, Hawaii and has built a career as a celebrity fitness trainer, claimed he lost out on a film project because of the book.
The lawsuit added that Morgan, ‘brings this action more in sorrow and disappointment in his sister’s betrayals and malicious falsehoods than in anger at them,’ adding the passages about him are, ‘mere gossip and of prurient interest.’
Story: ‘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,’ reads an excerpt of the filing from Carey’s lawyers
Morgan also claims the book paints him out to be violent towards Mariah and Morgan’s father, when in fact it was the father who was violent.
‘The violence was entirely one-sided, with the plaintiff being the recipient of his misplaced rage,’ the lawsuit alleges.
Morgan isn’t the only Carey sibling to sue their famous sister over the book, with their 59-year-old sister Alison also filing a lawsuit in February.
Another lawsuit: Morgan isn’t the only Carey sibling to sue their famous sister over the book, with their 59-year-old sister Alison also filing a lawsuit in February
Alison’s lawsuit claims she was publicly humiliated when Mariah revealed family secrets in the memoir.
One of said secrets included a passage that details an incident when Mariah was 12 and Alison was 20, when the older sibling ‘drugged’ Mariah with Valium and let her go on a car ride with one of her boyfriends, who was carrying a gun.
Alison is asking for $1.25 million in damages on the grounds of, ‘intentional infliction of immense emotional distress caused by defendant’s heartless, vicious, vindictive, despicable and totally unnecessary public humiliation of defendant’s’ already profoundly damaged older sister.’
Humiliated: Alison’s lawsuit claims she was publicly humiliated when Mariah revealed family secrets in the memoir