Ariana Grande sues alleged hackers over unreleased music leaks
Ariana Grande has filed a lawsuit against unidentified individuals she alleges were involved in hacking digital accounts and devices belonging to photographers and producers she has worked with and stealing unreleased music, photos and other private material.
The lawsuit obtained by ABC News and filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, names John Doe 1 and John Does 2 through 100 as defendants and accuses them of invasion of privacy, violating California's Comprehensive Data Access and Fraud Act and conversion.
According to the complaint, the alleged hacking involved digital accounts and devices belonging to Grande's collaborators, which the lawsuit claims were accessed through phishing scams and other computer or account intrusions.
The lawsuit alleges the stolen material includes unreleased masters and demos, footage from recording sessions, music videos, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, and album and photoshoot outtakes.
"In 2023 alone, 45 unreleased songs belonging to Ms. Grande were hacked, stolen, and leaked by Defendants," the complaint alleges. "Since her music debut in 2011, hundreds of similar leaks have taken place."
Grande alleges that in 2019, the defendants obtained login credentials for the Dropbox account of a photographer she had previously worked with and downloaded unreleased photos.
The following year, the lawsuit alleges, the defendants hacked the mobile device of a producer who had worked with Grande and obtained still-in-production, unreleased masters and demos, as well as footage from recording sessions.
The complaint also details two alleged phishing incidents in January and February 2024. Grande alleges the defendants created a Gmail account and domain name impersonating a photographer and sent a request to the photographer's digital technician to send them Grande's private content. According to the lawsuit, the defendants obtained unreleased photos belonging to Grande as a result.
After allegedly obtaining Grande's content, the defendants sold and continue to sell the material in batches using third-party payment services, including PayPal and Cash App, according to the lawsuit.
The complaint alleges defendants who purchased the stolen material have published and continue to publish Grande's private content across several online platforms.
Grande claims the unauthorized distribution of unfinished work has disrupted her "business relationships, creative process, and her peace of mind that her livelihood is safe and secure."
The singer also alleges she has suffered economic and reputational harm and has spent significant resources investigating the alleged activity and attempting to remove material published without her consent.
According to the complaint, the alleged leaks have led to instances in which Grande was "forced to re-record materials and modify the release dates of her upcoming projects and releases" in an effort to protect her work and her personal and professional integrity.
Grande is seeking a court order requiring the defendants to turn over her private materials and preventing them from further violating her privacy rights.
The lawsuit says Grande is also seeking to uncover the identities of those allegedly responsible and "hold them accountable for their invasive and reprehensible conduct."
Grande is demanding a jury trial, according to the complaint.
ABC News has reached out to Grande's representative for comment.
Grande has previously spoken publicly about unreleased music appearing online without her permission.
During a 2024 appearance on the "Zach Sang Show," Grande discussed "Fantasize," an unreleased song that had leaked online and gained traction on TikTok.
Grande explained that the song was originally written for a TV project and was not intended for release as one of her own songs.
"So ‘Fantasize’ comes out -- ‘comes out’ -- crazy -- was stolen … thieves, pirates, crooks, illegal," Grande said at the time. "I’ll pay you more to put it away, to get it back."
Despite her frustration over the leak, Grande said the response to "Fantasize" ultimately influenced some of the music she created for her 2024 album, "Eternal Sunshine."
"I took the note, and I kind of gave them Ariana's version of that on the album," she said at the time. "Some of those seedling ideas from that time actually made their way onto the album, which is really exciting, but they're completely different now."
