A Look Inside the Tragic Relationship Between Mariah Carey and Her Little-Known Sister Alison

Mariah Carey is opening up about the loss of her mother Patricia and her estranged sister Alison, both of whom died on the same day in August 2024. But while things were somewhat smooth between the “Honey” singer and her mother toward the end of Patricia’s life, the same can’t be said for Mariah and Alison.

In fact, in a new interview with “CBS Mornings” on Wednesday, Mariah explained that it’s been “extremely difficult” dealing with the grief stemming from the loss of her family members. But when it comes to her sister, she revealed that she’s dealing with even more complex feelings.

“My sister, I hadn’t seen in years. And I feel really badly about that as well. But that’s ‘cause I tend to have a guilt complex about everything, but it’s tough. My sister had an extremely hard life,” she told host Gayle King.

What’s even more sad is that the reason why Mariah and Alison hadn’t been involved with each other comes from the years long, rough dynamic they shared. As Mariah shared in her 2020 memoir, “The Meaning of Mariah Carey,” during a certain point in their sisterhood, she decided that it was “emotionally and physically safer for me not to have any contact” with Alison.

The “Shake It Off” singer detailed how “deeply wounded” Alison was and described her as “the most brilliant and broken person I have ever known.” Mariah also reflected on their upbringing, describing how her sister–who was eight years older than her–allegedly exposed her to drugs and older men when she was just a teenager.

“Big sisters are supposed to protect you, not pimp you out,” she wrote in part.

Mariah later went on to describe a few troubling moments with her sister, specifically a time when they were younger and Alison allegedly threw “boiling hot tea” on her.

Getting extremely candid about that moment, Mariah said of the incident: “My back was splattered with third-degree burns. I couldn’t recognize it as mine. She burned my back and my trust. Any faint hope I’d help up to that point of having a big sister became scorched earth.”

She later added, “Alison has burned me in many ways and more times than I can count…he promise of her life was squandered in a tragic series of cheap bargains rather than being redeemed through the difficult, lifelong work of recovery and rebuilding oneself.”

The “We Belong Together” singer also alleged even more wrongdoing at the hand of her sister, claiming that Alison drugged her with Valium, offered her “a pinky nail full of cocaine” and tried to sell her out to a pimp. Mariah also claimed that over the years, her sister “sold lies” to gossip blogs over the years which only further added to the breakdown in their relationship.

But for Alison, her behavior and antics stem from a rough childhood, or at least that’s what she said in 2021 when she sued Mariah for the things she said about her in her memoir. Specifically, Alison’s suit argued that her difficulties stem from a horrible night during her pre-teen years when she was allegedly made to “attend a terrifying middle-of-the-night satanic worship meetings that included ritual sacrifice and sexual activity,” by their mother.

As a result, it left her “profoundly and permanently damaged” and caused her to have “PTSD, anxiety and depression, and other severe health problems. Additionally, per a close friend of Alison’s, they revealed in August 2024 that she and Mariah hadn’t seen each other since either 1994 or 2002.