Maria Carey Had a Complicated Relationship With Both of Her Siblings

Mariah Carey has certainly seen her share of difficult relationships. Her marriage to music executive Tommy Mottola was marked by threats, abuse, and incredibly controlling behavior. All of this was writ large in the singer's 2020 memoir, "The Meaning of Mariah Carey."

She also dug into her childhood and included heartbreaking stories about her fraught relationships with her two siblings.

Sadly, that was the theme throughout Mariah's life when it came to her sister and brother. Here's what we know about Mariah Carey's siblings.

Mariah Carey’s diva status may lead some fans to believe that she was an only child, but the singer is actually the youngest of three siblings. Mariah's brother, Morgan, 64, and sister Alison, 63, were both subjects in Mariah's memoir and have both sued the singer for what they believe was a defamation of character.

In Mariah's book, she wrote that at only 12 years old, her older sister, Alison introduced the singer to a life of drugs, violence, and trauma.

She explained, "When I was 12 years old, my sister drugged me with Valium, offered me a pinky nail full of cocaine, inflicted me with third-degree burns, and tried to sell me out to a pimp. Something in me was arrested by all that trauma. That is why I often say, 'I'm eternally 12.' I am still struggling through that time."

In court documents from February 2021, Alison’s lawyers denied the "Always Be My Baby" singer's accusations and sued Mariah for $1.25 million.

The report read, "Defendant 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. Defendant's cruel and outrageous allegations have devastated the plaintiff.”

The document continued, "Already struggling with the unspeakable trauma of her childhood and having her own children abandon her, she has become severely depressed and uncharacteristically tearful since the publication of defendant's book and now struggles, after a long time clean, with alcohol abuse."

Morgan Carey also filed a lawsuit in New York over "defamation and the intentional infliction of emotional distress." He was seeking unspecified damages, and he wanted a judge to rule that "many of the passages ... are false and defamatory."

In the infamous memoir, Mariah alleged that her brother would often get violent with their father, Alfred Carey. She also claimed that her brother would be abusive toward her mother and that he took an advance in a murder-for-hire.

In February 2022, Reuters reported that a New York judge dismissed most of the defamation lawsuit filed by Morgan. Apparently he "can sue his sister over passages suggesting he distributed cocaine to "the beautiful people," and implying he might have 'been-in-the-system' — in prison — for a serious crime." Evidently Morgan was unable to prove that the allegations about his abuse towards their family caused significant harm to his reputation.

In August 2024, Mariah spoke exclusively to People Magazine about losing her mother and sister. "My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day," she said. "I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed," Mariah added.

She did not go into detail about her sister's death though the Times Union reported that Alison it was "related to Carey’s organ function and that she had been in hospice care."

Alison's friend and advocate David Baker told the outlet, "We knew it was coming. There were signs that she couldn’t go any further." Evidently, Alison's lawsuit had yet to be resolved at the time of her death.