Mariah Carey’s Brother Slams Her Claim That She Meant to Provide ‘Inspiration’ in Memoir, Not Defame Him
Carey #Carey
Mariah Carey’s brother Morgan is clapping back at the star’s response to his defamation suit.
Morgan, 60, first sued Mariah, 51, for defamation back in March, claiming that her inclusion of the details of an alleged altercation between him and their late father, Alfred, in her September 2020 memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey painted him as “equally violent as their father.” (In the book, Mariah alleged that a dozen police officers had to break up the physical fight between the two men.)
Then in court documents filed last month, Mariah hit back, saying through her lawyers that the story was not meant to defame Morgan but instead serve as an “inspiration” to others who have been through similar experiences.
“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,” the filing read.
RELATED: Mariah Carey Says She Meant to Provide ‘Inspiration’ in Memoir, Not Defame Her Brother: Report
In an affidavit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, Morgan slammed Mariah’s assertion that she didn’t meant to defame him but rather inspire others as “particularly ironic.”
“This is coming from someone whose public behavior includes glamorizing her excessive drinking, and coining the now popular term ‘splash’, as well as other behaviors which would be in poor taste to mention here,” Morgan wrote.
He went on to say that if she really wanted to inspire others, she could have recounted in her book his childhood struggles with “Cerebral Palsy, Grand Mal Epilepsy and a two-inch leg disparity.”
Gallery: Britney Spears Breaks Her Silence: I Feel ‘Enslaved’ During Conservatorship (US Weekly)
“This detail is conspicuously absent, which makes it clear that ‘inspiration’ was not on the agenda,” he wrote. “Mariah’s agenda merely focused on book sales and her image, all at my expense with no regard to the truth or my well-being during this world crisis.”
A rep for Mariah did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
RELATED VIDEO: Mariah Carey Reveals Name of ‘Humbling and Healing’ New Memoir Set to Be Published in September
In an attempt to support his claim that Mariah “deliberately and with malice defamed me in her memoir,” Morgan cited an interview she did with Oprah Winfrey around the time of the memoir’s release in which she said that she wasn’t afraid to reveal details about her family because they “drew first blood, historically.”
“This clearly indicated her intention to harm me,” he said of the star, whom he described as having a “contentious and vindictive nature.”
Morgan also claimed that Mariah’s “libelous vitriol” continues to be “immeasurably damaging and hurtful to myself and those closest to me.”
As an example, he claimed that “enthusiastic negotiations” about his and his wife Ilaria’s screenplay were “abruptly and without explanation terminated congruently with Mariah’s malicious global assault on my character and reputation.”
“The public humiliation of Mariah’s baseless and false attacks will forever color my professional and personal interactions,” he said.
RELATED: Mariah Carey’s Brother Sues Singer Over Her Memoir 1 Month After Their Sister Filed Separate Lawsuit
Mariah currently faces a similar lawsuit filed against her by her estranged sister Alison, who alleged in February that she intentionally inflicted “emotional distress” on her with the inclusion of several stories in the memoir.
Describing the singer as “heartless, vicious [and] vindictive,” Alison claimed in part in her filing that she’d fallen back into “alcohol abuse” and become “uncharacteristically tearful” following the book’s release.
Last December, Mariah spoke about a potential screen adaptation of her memoir, taking fans into her childhood and through her life, to the present day.
“We’re talking about some things. I really feel like it should; that was always my goal,” Mariah told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show of her intentions for The Meaning of Mariah Carey. “But it was important to write the book first, ’cause there’s so much, and then to pick and choose how we translate that.”