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A judge threw out Morgan Carey's $20M defamation suit against Mariah. The case isn't over yet.

Five years after her brother sued over passages in 'The Meaning of Mariah Carey,' a New York court closed the door on his claims. His lawyer says an appeal is coming.

A judge threw out Morgan Carey's $20M defamation suit against Mariah. The case isn't over yet.

Five years is a long time to fight your sister in court. On Monday, October 19, that fight ended, at least for now, when New York State Supreme Court Justice Leslie A. Stroth dismissed the last remaining claims in Morgan Carey's defamation lawsuit against his sister, Mariah Carey. The suit sought more than $20 million in damages. Billboard obtained the court order first and broke the ruling; TMZ and Rolling Stone followed within hours.

The lawsuit has its roots in The Meaning of Mariah Carey, the singer's 2020 memoir. Morgan first sued Mariah back in 2021, a few months after the book hit No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. He alleged that the memoir damaged his reputation by suggesting he had sold cocaine and spent time in prison, and his original lawsuit also challenged passages portraying him as violent. Most of his claims were dismissed in 2022, but two passages, relating to alleged drug dealing and imprisonment, were allowed to proceed.

What killed the remaining case was the legal standard of "actual malice." Under New York law, Morgan had to show that his sister knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. He couldn't get there. In the latest ruling, Judge Stroth wrote: "The Court finds that Plaintiff has not sufficiently pleaded actual malice on the part of Defendant."

Morgan had argued that his sister was more focused on the commercial viability of the book than fact-checking, and that she relied on anonymous or unverifiable sources. The judge was not persuaded. Stroth found that Morgan "fails to provide any proof" that Mariah knowingly lied about him in her book. The court also held that the deterioration of the relationship between brother and sister does not, in itself, prove the actual malice standard.

Mariah's attorney, John Rosenberg, told Billboard the ruling had implications beyond just this case. Rosenberg said the decision "confirms that authors must be afforded broad protection when they speak out on matters of public concern." He 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's side is not done. Morgan's attorney, Richard Altman, plans to appeal. "We respectfully disagree with today's decision as being inconsistent with prior rulings in the case," Altman told Billboard. An appeal could drag the case, which has already lasted half a decade, considerably longer.

The memoir itself is still out there doing what it's always done: selling. Morgan filed his original lawsuit in 2021, a few months after The Meaning of Mariah Carey reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The book documented her difficult childhood and her family relationships, including the estrangement from Morgan and her sister, Alison. Mariah wrote it in her own voice and on her own terms. The court has now said, at least for the moment, that she was legally within her rights to do so.

The case matters beyond celebrity gossip because it touches something real: where does a public figure's right to tell their own story end and another person's right to their reputation begin? Courts have wrestled with memoir defamation claims before, but a $20 million suit against one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, over a book that spent weeks on the best-seller charts, draws a pretty sharp line.

Also making noise: Jason Sudeikis on 'Ted Lasso' Seasons 5 and 6

In a separate story getting traction this week, Ted Lasso fans are parsing every word Jason Sudeikis said on a recent episode of the podcast Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso. Sudeikis discussed his hopes for Season 5, along with how the show "saved" him, and addressed the current status of future seasons, a topic fans have been anxious about since the Season 4 finale aired earlier this month.

His answer was honest, if not exactly satisfying. When pressed on whether there would be more seasons, the actor admitted, "I just don't know," before adding, "We haven't started a writers' room or anything like that." Sudeikis indicated he "would like to" do more seasons but acknowledged "it takes a village," and when asked if he thinks Apple would be open to it, ventured, "I would assume so."

Deadline reports that before Season 4 began, there was reporting that Sudeikis had a new three-season arc in mind for the show. The Season 4 finale left plenty of threads open, including Ted stepping down from managing the Lady Greyhounds and Roy Kent, played by Brett Goldstein, accepting a new job as manager of Chelsea. According to Ted Lasso co-creator Brendan Hunt, Ted's decision to step down was part of Sudeikis's vision from the beginning of the writers' room and was not a last-minute plot reversal, which at least suggests the Season 4 ending was planned, not a hasty wrap-up.

Sudeikis also got candid on the podcast about what Ted Lasso saved him from: "Some form of self-harm. Flat out," he said, describing a feeling he hadn't experienced since "the confusing teenage years." That's the quote that landed hardest.

Variety and 9to5Mac both noted that Apple TV+ head of programming Matt Cherniss has publicly called the show "a global juggernaut," which is not the language of someone preparing to let a property go quietly. No formal pickup has been announced. Sudeikis joked that moving forward would require "a bigger cup."

Sources

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