A judge in the Supreme Court of the State of New York dismissed a $20 million defamation lawsuit that Morgan Carey brought against his sister, the singer Mariah Carey, over passages in her 2020 memoir, ruling that he failed to prove she acted with “actual malice,” El Diario, Times of India US and WBLS reported. Judge Leslie A. Stroth issued the decision Monday, October 19, ending the current phase of a legal fight that began in 2021.

Stroth found that Morgan Carey did not provide sufficient evidence that his sister knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth, the high threshold required in defamation cases involving public figures and matters of public interest, WBLS reported. “Plaintiff fails to provide any proof that Defendant made such statements with knowledge of their falsity,” Stroth wrote in the decision, according to WBLS. The judge added that Morgan Carey’s arguments about the “commercial viability” of the book did not meet that legal bar.

John Rosenberg, an attorney for Mariah Carey, said the singer was “gratified” by the court’s decision to throw out the claims in their entirety, WBLS reported. Rosenberg said the ruling was a broader win for authors, who he said deserve “broad protection when they speak out on matters of public concern.”