A legal win for Mariah Carey could
see her trapped by her own words
By David Baker
Law firms love clients like Mariah Carey; wealthy people who are ready to spend unlimited amounts of money fighting lawsuits, battling the other party at every turn by doing everything possible to make their opponent’s case as time-consuming and expensive as possible. As one of Mariah Carey’s attorneys said to a lawyer who was evaluating Alison’s claim: “Mariah would rather spend tens of thousands of dollars fighting a claim than give Alison five dollars.”
Earlier this month Mariah Carey’s lawyers continued their effort to get her brother Morgan Carey’s claim over statements about him in Mariah Carey’s book thrown out before it starts.
While filing an amended complaint that drops a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, Morgan’s attorneys are asking for permission to conduct limited discovery - which would include both written questions to and depositions of several people - including Carey herself - while a decision on a motion by her attorneys to dismiss the entire case is pending.
Also to be questioned would be members of the company that published the memoir, who have said in affidavits that they believed and accepted as fact everything Mariah Carey wrote in her book. Given the accusations against both Morgan Carey and sister Alison Carey, this lack of concern over the statements is remarkable; even with insurance and a contract with the author protecting them from any claim - neither of which has been mentioned as a defense in the legal filings - most publishers would be uneasy, to say the least, about Mariah’s flat-out statements that then-20-year-old Alison committed several crimes against Mariah when she was a child.
Morgan Carey also wants copies of any documents about the decision to publish allegedly damaging statements about him without giving him an opportunity to respond. The failure to do that, he claims, is further evidence of Mariah Carey’s malice.
A judge will now decide if Morgan Carey’s request for limited discover is granted and if the case is thrown out.
As a high profile public figure, Mariah Carey presumably is aware that she could be a target for some people who think public figures are public property, and takes steps to keep herself and her children safe.
But it is impossible to understate the rage that Morgan might be filled with if, after being trashed in his sister’s book, Mariah Carey then uses her immense wealth to shut down his case before it starts.
That danger may never come. Morgan is 61 years old and presumably has mellowed and matured so probably would not resort to the violence Mariah accused him of in his youth.
But that’s not the point. It’s the uncertainty. It’s not knowing. It’s the knowledge that a person you likely have made very angry is out there. It’s having to constantly check vehicles; it’s having bodyguards; it’s the offered public appearances that have to be declined; it’s the suspicious packages, the letters that have to be scanned, the extra security at each residence - and years later, still living with an ever-present undercurrent of fear.
And the sad part of it is that her attack on Morgan, like the one on Alison, was all so unnecessary.
Stories in the book could have been truly inspiring for young people in traumatic family situations - as Mariah pathetically claims her vicious attacks on her siblings are.
Instead, in permanently public legal records and posts on the Internet she has allowed herself to be portrayed as cruel and vindictive toward her own closest relatives.
Such an irony. Ever desperate for attention, Mariah Carey could soon find herself imprisoned by her own hateful, publicity-seeking words.
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