Mariah Carey can’t be the only ‘Queen of Christmas’ after losing trademark bid
Mariah Carey’s Christmas Day wedding to Sonny Isuzu got off to a strong start when the superstar singer and music producer tied the knot in a small white wedding cake surrounded by 12,000 red, white and blue balloons and more than 100 people gathered to watch.
But the stars of the show — who included actor-director Tommy Lee Jones, dancers, the wedding planner, and the bridesmaids — found out their plans were not legally binding.
Instead, the happy couple had a simple ceremony with an array of family and friends and, according to their original contract, the singer has the right to have the ceremony videotaped.
Mariah’s lawyers filed a lawsuit Oct. 16 in Florida federal court, seeking to have the contract declared void and alleging breach of contract.
And while they lost the case, she and Sonny are now embroiled in a new battle with her longtime manager, Tom Monahan, who was the wedding’s florist.
The suit alleges that Monahan breached the contract by using the image of the “Mariah Carey Christmas Song” on the florist’s business card and making false statements to a reporter. Monahan has denied the allegations.
The suit, filed on behalf of Carey, her former manager, Monahan and Monahan’s ex-wife Lorna, also alleges that Monahan lied to Monahan’s now-deceased mother about Monahan’s and Carey’s relationship and that Monahan is seeking a “royalties” payment from Carey.
Mariah and her lawyer, Barry Berke of the Nashville firm Leger and Berke, said Monahan’s use of the song was meant to be a compliment to Carey’s version of the song — which is now her biggest hit in nearly two decades, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Country singles chart.
Monahan has also filed $1 million-plus in his name in a Tennessee state court to have his ex-wife and Carey declared not just partners in the business, but in a state court partnership. Monahan was never an investor in the wedding, but a part owner of Monahan Entertainment, an entertainment company in Nashville where Monahan had his own team of music business and event management professionals.
Mariah Carey
But Monahan was the only partner named on the contract for the wedding contract