Mariah Carey has won a long-running legal battle against allegations that she defamed her brother.
According to Billboard, a judge ruled in a court order dated 19 October that Morgan Carey had failed to meet the legal requirements to sue his superstar sister over statements in her bestselling 2020 memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.
The passages cited in the lawsuit implied that Morgan had sold cocaine and spent time in prison.
Under New York law, defamation claims brought against public figures must establish "actual malice", meaning the statements were made with knowledge that they were false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
"The Court finds that Plaintiff has not sufficiently pleaded actual malice on the part of Defendant," wrote Judge Leslie A Stroth.
"Plaintiff has alleged that Defendant was more concerned with the 'commercial viability' of her memoir than verifying the truth of her statements. Notably, Plaintiff fails to provide any proof that Defendant made such statements with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for the truth."
Judge Stroth concluded that the case could not proceed without satisfying the actual malice requirement and dismissed the lawsuit in its entirety.
The lawyer representing the All I Want for Christmas singer told Billboard, "Ms Carey is gratified that the Court recognised that her memoir addresses significant issues of public interest and dismissed her brother's defamation claims in their entirety."
Morgan initially filed the lawsuit in 2021, several months after The Meaning of Mariah Carey reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The dispute has remained tied up in legal proceedings ever since.
Morgan's lawyer has confirmed that he intends to appeal the dismissal.
"We respectfully disagree with today's decision as being inconsistent with prior rulings in the case," he told Billboard.
