Mariah Carey's brother sues over 'defamatory claims' in her memoir

As Mariah Carey's sister did last month, the pop star's brother Morgan Carey has now sued over what he contends are defamatory claims in the singer's recently published memoir.

Los Angeles-based fitness trainer Morgan Carey, 60, filed the suit Wednesday in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, alleging seven counts of defamation and one of intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit specifies no monetary damages, instead seeking any "sums as may be awarded by a jury and the Court," plus legal fees.

"Plaintiff brings this action more in sorrow and disappointment in his sister's betrayals and malicious falsehoods than in anger at them," Morgan Carey's suit states. "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."

But the lawsuit contends that "The Meaning of Mariah Carey," released in September by the Macmillan Publishing Group imprint Andy Cohen Books, contains "many passages" that "are false and defamatory, personally invasive and painful, and have caused serious damage to his reputation and to his personal and business affairs."

Among the passages in question was a vicious fight the Huntington-born Mariah Carey recalled between Morgan and their father, Alfred. "I witnessed the possibility that a member of my family could brutally die in front of my eyes," she wrote.

"In fact" the suit responds, "this clichéd and racially charged portrayal of two Black males engaged in a physical struggle never happened. While plaintiff's father was indeed a violent man, … the violence was entirely one sided, with the plaintiff being the recipient of his misplaced rage. … Her attempt to falsely characterize plaintiff as equally violent as their father … was only the beginning of [her] desperate attempt to vilify plaintiff, play the victim card and curry favor with the Black Lives Matter movement."

The suit also denies passages in the memoir claiming that Morgan Carey offered to murder someone for pay and was a "sometimes drug dealing, been-in-the-system, drunk." "The foregoing is false and defamatory," the suit states, adding that the singer's brother "has never been convicted of a crime."

The suit also disputes the memoir's claim that their father, on his deathbed, refused to see "my ex-brother Morgan." Calling that "a heinous and hurtful lie," the suit says, "Not only did plaintiff visit his father in the hospital, but was also with him in the hospice in the Hamptons where he died. Plaintiff held his father's hand and said that he forgave him and that he could let go. Mariah was there with plaintiff, although she spent much of her time on the terrace outside with her entourage, speaking on her cellphone and texting away."

Also named in the suit are the two publishing entities and co-author Michaela Angela Davis. Five-time Grammy Award winner Mariah Carey, 51, has not commented publicly. Her sister Alison Carey, 59, filed a suit on Feb. 1 alleging emotional distress over claims in the memoir.