Mariah Carey’s Sister Sues Over ‘Lurid Claims’ in ‘Meaning of Mariah Carey’ Memoir

Mariah Carey’s sister, Alison A. Carey, has sued the singer for “intentional infliction of emotional distress” caused by statements in her 2020 memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey.

In court documents obtained by Rolling Stone, Alison accused Mariah of making unsubstantiated claims about her in a particular chapter, while she also said the publication of — and subsequent press surrounding — The Meaning of Mariah Carey caused further emotional distress. The filing said Alison sent an offer to settle on January 8th but received no response; she’s now seeking $1.25 million in compensation.

Neither Alison Carey nor a rep for Mariah Carey immediately replied to a request for comment.

In the book, Mariah writes extensively about her tumultuous childhood and growing up in an abusive family. In the chapter “Dandelion Tea,” she claims that when she was 12 years old, the then-20-year-old Alison gave her Valium, tried to pimp her out, and threw boiling hot tea on her, which caused third-degree burns. Alison singles out this chapter in her filing, disputing the claims, saying her sister “presented no evidence to substantiate these serious allegations” and published them without giving her an opportunity to respond.

The filing also calls out Mariah for “callously dismiss[ing]” Alison as her “ex” sister, and goes on to state that Mariah “made these outrageous claims knowing that plaintiff is profoundly and permanently damaged as a result of being forced by [their] mother, while a pre-teen, to attend terrifying middle-of-the-night satanic worship meetings that included ritual sacrifices and sexual activity.”

Alison states that she’s suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and other health issues for years, both related to her traumatic childhood and an attack during a 2015 home invasion. The filing notes that Mariah had called Alison “damaged” and “very broken” in stories leading up to the publication of the memoir, but nevertheless “used her status as a public figure to attack her penniless sister, generating sensational headlines describing her lurid claims to promote sales of her book.”

The filing goes on to state that since the publication of The Meaning of Mariah Carey, Alison has become “severely depressed and uncharacteristically tearful… and now struggles, after a long time clean, with alcohol abuse.”