Mariah Carey must face accusations that she defamed her brother in her memoir, a judge ruled earlier this week (February 15).

Last year, Carey’s older brother sued the singer for defamation and emotional distress which he alleges was caused by her best-selling autobiography, The Meaning Of Mariah Carey.

Carey’s brother claims to have suffered “extreme mental anguish” and “serious damage to his reputation” as a result of the book.

While the judge did dismiss numerous allegations made by her brother relating to several passages in the book, she did rule that Morgan Carey could sue his sister for defamation over two passages that claimed he had sold drugs and had “been in the system”.

In her decision, Justice Barbara Jaffe wrote: “Although Carey maintains that the phrase ‘sometimes drug dealing’ is a ‘rhetorical epithet,’ in light of the earlier statement that plaintiff had supplied clubgoers with ‘powdered party favours,’ the average reader could understand this phrase to mean that plaintiff had committed a serious crime.”

She continued: “The context reasonably permits an average reader to conclude that Carey refers in this statement to cocaine, which is a controlled substance, the possession and/or sale of which is proscribed by New York law…It thus implies that plaintiff committed a serious crime and is sufficient to support [an] action for defamation per se.”

A solicitor said Morgan was “pleased” by the judge’s decision. NME has reached out to representatives of Mariah Carey for comment.

Back in January, Carey announced the release of her first children’s book, The Christmas Princess, which will arrive later this year.

Announcing the new book on Instagram, Carey described it as “a fairytale for holiday lovers of all ages”.