Mariah Carey dragged back to court by family

Just weeks after the death of her mother and sister, Carey’s brother is dragging the superstar back to court to battle it out.

Mariah Carey’s family saga is continuing to be complicated.

Just weeks after losing her mother and sister on the same day in August, her brother, Morgan Carey, wants her back in court.

According to documents obtained by Fox News Digital, a judge has ordered the siblings to sit for depositions in his lawsuit before January 31, 2025.

The order was filed Aug 27, three days after Carey’s sister, Alison, and their mother, Patricia, both died.

Mariah Carey’s brother is forcing the star back to court just weeks after the death of her sister and mother. Photo: Wagner Meier/Getty Images.

“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend,” Carey told People magazine at the time. “Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day.”

“I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mum before she passed,” Carey added. “I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”

The filing stems from Morgan’s 2021 lawsuit for defamation against Carey, claiming many mentions of him in her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” are “false and defamatory, personally invasive and painful, and have caused serious damage to his reputation and to his personal and business affairs.”

Morgan’s original complaint also claims “the damage was intended,” citing an interview with Oprah Winfrey about the book where Carey said he “drew first blood” and referred to him as her “ex-brother.”

The complaint notes that Morgan is seeking punitive damages but not a specific sum because the focus is on seeking “judicial determination that many of the passages in it which are of and concerning him are false and defamatory” and “undo the damage which these false and defamatory passages have caused and will cause him in his personal and business life.”

Carey’s relationship with her family has been fraught for years.

David Baker, a friend of Carey’s sister, Alison, told People that the sisters hadn’t seen each other in years.

Carey’s mother, Patricia, passed away in August. Picture: Instagram

Carey wrote in her 2020 memoir that it was “emotionally and physically safer” not to have contact with her sister or brother.

Alison also sued Carey in 2021 following the release of her memoir, claiming she intentionally inflicted “emotional distress” on her. Furthermore, the suit refers to Carey as “heartless, vicious [and] vindictive” and states that Alison had begun abusing alcohol and is “uncharacteristically tearful” after the book’s release.

“When it comes to family members – like siblings or parents – ​it’s rare to find a public appetite for protracted infighting and allegations in the media,” Doug Eldridge of Achilles PR told Fox News Digital.

“Look at the Royal Family: The tell-all book fell flat and the long-form sit-downs were largely panned,” he continued, referring to Prince Harry’s memoir, “Spare.”

“Families fight, that’s just a part of human nature; but to do so publicly with the express purpose of damaging the reputation of somebody else is rarely a net positive.”

Another family publicly at odds at the moment are singer Elle King and her father, comedian and “SNL” alum Rob Schneider.

In August, King appeared on BunnieXO’s podcast, “Dumb Blonde,” saying that when she released her album “people finally started asking about my dad,” adding: “My dad called me and was like, ‘Don’t f---ing talk about me in the press.’”

Alison Carey hadn’t had contact with Mariah for years. Picture: Supplied.

She went on to recall feeling “lost in the shuffle” when she’d visit him on movie sets, as well as being sent to “fat camp” and a general lack of communication from him, including forgetting her 18th birthday. King said they also disagree politically, explaining, “I disagree with a lot of the things that he says. You’re talking out your a--, and you’re talking sh– about drag and, you know, anti-gay rights, and it’s like … get f***ed. I want to use this opportunity to say I disagree. I do not agree with what he says.”

Schneider offered a public apology after the podcast episode, but King told People it doesn’t mean anything, noting she was simply being honest and “was not trying to hurt him.” Eldridge noted, “Public statements, especially among legitimately high-profile celebrities, often walk right up to the shoreline of a defamation claim without ever fully dipping a toe in the water.

Carey has always had a tumultuous relationship with her close family. Picture: Instagram.

“You’ll hear words like ‘toxic’ instead of ‘abuse’ because one is subjective while the other requires an objective, evidentiary standard. You will often see someone make public statements, which lead the viewer or listener to reach a certain conclusion, but without ever saying the words or making the specific allegation.”

Other celebrities have battled their families in court over financial matters, particularly child stars who felt taken advantage of by their parents.

“There is a quiet but broad sense of distrust and or disapproval when it comes to the proverbial ‘stage mum’ or ‘momager’ of a young star,” Eldridge said.

Drew Barrymore famously emancipated herself from her mother, Jaid Barrymore, at age 14.

An excerpt of her 2015 memoir, “Wildflower,” shared in The Guardian revealed, the “E.T.” star wrote, “It’s no secret that I had to part ways from my mother because we had driven our relationship into the ground. She had lost credibility as a mother by taking me to Studio 54 (so wrong, but so fun) instead of school. And I was out of control due to working since I was 11 months old and what that had done to my childhood, which made me grow up too fast. Work was a very positive thing in my life, and sadly it had been taken away, because my mother also put me in an institution because she felt helpless.”

This article originally appeared in Fox News and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Mariah Carey dragged back to court by family