Ariana Grande sues alleged hackers over years of music leaks
Ariana Grande has filed a lawsuit against unidentified hackers accusing them of stealing and leaking unreleased songs, photos, and demos dating back to 2019, including the 2023 leak of 45 unreleased tracks.
ENTERTAINMENT
8/2/20262 min read
Ariana Grande has apparently had enough of watching her unreleased work turn up online. The singer has filed a lawsuit accusing unidentified hackers of stealing and distributing songs, photos, demos and behind-the-scenes recordings.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, names John Doe 1 and John Does 2 through 100, placeholder defendants that let Grande's legal team pursue the case while working to identify who's actually behind it. Her claims include invasion of privacy, conversion and violations of California's Comprehensive Data Access and Fraud Act. None of the allegations has been proven in court.
According to the lawsuit, the alleged hackers didn't target Grande directly. Instead, they went after the photographers, producers and other collaborators who stored private files from her recording sessions, photo shoots and video productions.
Years of alleged intrusions
The reported breaches stretch back years. A photographer's Dropbox account was allegedly accessed in 2019. A producer's phone was reportedly compromised in 2020, exposing demos and studio recordings. The biggest known leak came in 2023, when 45 unreleased songs were allegedly stolen and shared online. Grande claims hundreds of unauthorized leaks have occurred since her recording career began in 2011.
The complaint also lays out an alleged 2024 phishing scheme. Those involved reportedly built a fake Gmail address and domain impersonating one of Grande's photographers, then used that false identity to convince a digital technician to hand over unreleased photographs.
Grande accuses the alleged hackers of selling stolen material on the dark web for substantial sums. Her lawyers argue the breaches invaded her privacy, disrupted her career and stripped her of the choice over when, or whether, unfinished work should ever go public.
Her frustration isn't new. During a 2024 appearance on the "Zach Sang Show," Grande talked about songs recorded before her work on "Wicked" that later leaked without her approval, including "Fantasize," which spread widely across social media at the time. The lawsuit now gives that long-standing frustration an actual legal target.
Whether Grande's legal team can trace the anonymous accounts back to real people remains an open question, one that will likely play out in discovery over the coming months.
Images: Starstock | New York Magazine