Ariana Grande has sued a group of unnamed hackers who she alleges stole unreleased songs, footage and photographs from people in her professional circle and sold the material online.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday (July 27) in Los Angeles Superior Court, as reported by Billboard.
The complaint does not name any defendants, instead identifying them as “John Doe” parties.
Grande says she is suing “to uncover the identities of these currently unknown and unscrupulous individuals in order to hold them accountable for their invasive and reprehensible conduct.”
The suit alleges that hackers gained access to the personal digital accounts of photographers and producers who have worked with Grande, then stole and sold unreleased recordings and other private content.
“This action arises from the illegal hacking of various personal digital accounts of photographers and producers who have worked closely with Ms. Grande, resulting in unlawful and egregious theft, dissemination and exploitation of unreleased content belonging to Ms. Grande,” the complaint states.
Grande‘s complaint alleges the hackers “have then sold this personal data and content on the dark web for significant sums of money.”
In 2023 alone, 45 unreleased songs were “hacked, stolen and leaked by defendants,” according to the suit.
“Since her music debut in 2011, hundreds of similar leaks have taken place,” it states.
Leaked Grande tracks have reportedly included the songs Fantasize, That Bitch Is Mine and White Tee.
The complaint traces the alleged breaches back to 2019.
That year, login credentials for the Dropbox account of a photographer who had worked with Grande were stolen, along with unreleased photos of the singer.
In 2020, the phone of one of her producers was hacked, leading to the leak of “still-in-production, unreleased masters and demos and footage from recording sessions.”
The most recent incident alleged in the suit took place in 2024, when a phishing scam targeted a technician working for another photographer Grande had used.
Posing as the photographer with a fake Gmail address and a lookalike domain, the hackers duped the technician into handing over Grande’s files, the complaint says.
Grande‘s complaint alleges the stolen content has been sold “in batches to this present day,” with transactions completed through payment services “including but not limited to PayPal and CashApp.”
The suit says the thefts have caused Grande “economic and reputational harm” and forced her to spend “significant resources” investigating the activity and removing leaked material.
Grande was also “forced to re-record materials and modify the release dates of her upcoming projects and releases in order to protect her artistic works along with her personal and professional integrity,” the suit says.
With no defendants named, Grande is expected to ask the court to authorize subpoenas to internet service providers and online platforms that could unmask those responsible.
Grande is not the first major artist targeted by hackers seeking unreleased music.
In 2022, a UK hacker was jailed for 18 months after accessing the cloud accounts of 89 artists, including Ed Sheeran and Lil Uzi Vert, and selling their unreleased music on the dark web for cryptocurrency.
Grande is a Universal Music Group-affiliated artist. Her eighth studio album, petal, is due Friday (July 31) via her own imprint, BabyDoll Music, in partnership with Republic Records, days after the lawsuit was filed. In 2024, eternal sunshine gave her a sixth No. 1 on the Billboard 200.Music Business Worldwide
