No promotion this time

Mariah Carey’s memoir is out in paperback

Tuesday - accompanied by the sound of silence

By David Baker

   A little over a year ago Mariah Carey was busy promoting her about-to-be-published memoir by pushing out to the media a section in the book in which she claims - without offering any evidence - that when she was 12 years old her 20-year-old sister Alison drugged her with Valium, offered her cocaine and tried to pimp her out.

   Fast forward a year  - during which both Alison and brother Morgan filed legal papers claiming that they have been damaged by the multimillionaire’s statements - and there is hardly a word about the release of a paperback edition of the book, scheduled for Nov. 2.

   Back in the summer, Mariah sent out a tweet announcing the date, along with an image of what appears to be the front cover - which has a photo of her that is on the back of the hardback edition. The tweet has a link to a page where the book can be pre-ordered.

   But since then: No more tweets. No media interviews. No apparent effort to publicized the new edition.

   Publishing the paperback has meant a decision had to be made: Whether to include in it the statements about Alison and Morgan that prompted the legal filings.

   Remove them, and it would look like an admission that they were libelous.

   Leave them in and it could be considered further evidence of Mariah Carey’s malice toward her brother and sister; that she intended to damage them - which has legal implications - as does accusing Alison of committing crimes, which Mariah did in the hardcopy.

   The new edition is listed at $16.99, a high price for a paperback, particularly as copies of the hardback can be found on the Internet for as little as $5.95 - with free shipping.

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