Mariah Carey to be questioned under oath after brother Morgan claims she lied about him in 2020 memoir
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Mariah Carey will be questioned under oath over her estranged brother Morgan Carey's accusations that she lied about him in her 2020 memoir, 'The Meaning of Mariah Carey'.
According to the court papers obtained by The US Sun, the 55-year-old singer is expected to give a videotaped in-person deposition on January 17, 2025, at the offices of her brother's legal team in New York.
Morgan Carey says Mariah Carey's false claims caused him 'emotional distress'
In his 2021 lawsuit, Morgan Carey stated that the Grammy-winning singer's claims that he was violent toward her and their family, spent time in prison, and dealt drugs while working at a New York City nightclub were nothing but lies.
Mariah famously wrote in her 2020 book, "I was a little girl with very few memories of a big brother who protected me."
Describing Morgan as her "ex-brother," the ‘Emotions’ singer continued, "More often, I felt I had to protect myself from him, and sometimes I would find myself protecting my mother from him too."
The suit also mentions a part where Mariah claimed Morgan "discreetly supplied the beautiful people with their powdered party favors," which his lawyers said is "reasonably understood as a reference to cocaine."
Moreover, the songstress described Morgan as her "sometimes drug-dealing, been-in-the-system, drunk a** brother," insinuating he was imprisoned for a time.
She also claimed that there was a time when "12 cops" had to intervene in a fight between Morgan and their father.
Morgan vehemently denied each claim, calling them "false and defamatory," and said that they caused him "emotional distress" and "serious damage" to his image.
The suit states, "[Morgan] brings this action more in sorrow and disappointment in his sister’s betrayals and malicious falsehoods than in anger at them."
It further mentions, "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."
Mariah Carey has denied Morgan Carey's accusations
In February 2022, a judge dismissed most of the lawsuit, but did allow two parts to continue, including the claims that he was a drug dealer and that he had been imprisoned.
Mariah, however, has always maintained that all her statements "as fully accurate, as stated in my own literary style."
She backed up her claims by saying that a "well-known photographer," a "well-known hairdresser," and their mother had told her about Morgan dealing drugs, and said it was "inner-circle common knowledge at the time."
Morgan’s lawyers will now question the singer about the identities of the photographer and hairdresser during the deposition.
Morgan is not the only family member who contested Mariah’s claims in her memoir. Their late sister, Alison Carey, who died in August on the same day as their mother, Patricia Carey, also sued Mariah over claims that she drugged the 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' singer when she was 12.
In a statement to The US Sun, Morgan's lawyer, Richard Altman. said, "It is disheartening that Mariah, in order to build herself up to the public in her 'tell-all book,' manufactured disparaging facts about her brother Morgan, who is still mourning the deaths of his sister and mother, deaths which he first learned of not from her, but from her lawyer to his."
It added, "What is more disheartening is that Mariah, after significantly harming Morgan through her words, plays the victim. In the end, not only will Mariah have to answer questions under oath about how she intentionally harmed her brother, but the public will learn the real truth behind their relationship and who the real victim is."
