Ariana Grande hacking lawsuit targets alleged leaks of unreleased music
Ariana Grande sued unknown hackers in Los Angeles, alleging years of stolen songs, videos and private images from her collaborators.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
3 min read
The Ariana Grande hacking lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeks to identify unknown people accused of stealing and leaking her unreleased music, videos and images. The complaint matters because it frames years of fan-circulated leaks as alleged computer intrusions involving people who work with Grande.
The defendants are not named. The filing refers to them as John Doe 1 and John Does 2 through 100, and says the case is meant to reveal who they are, according to the complaint.
Grande alleges the group obtained private material tied to her career and then sold or posted it online. The complaint says the material appeared on platforms including X, TikTok and YouTube.
What does Ariana Grande's hacking lawsuit allege?
The complaint says hackers targeted producers, photographers and other people connected to Grande rather than only going after the singer directly. It alleges that the stolen material includes unfinished masters and demos, recording-session footage, music videos, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, album outtakes and photoshoot outtakes.
The filing says the leaks stretch back across Grande’s career, which began in music in 2011. It alleges that hundreds of leaks have occurred since then, including 45 unreleased songs in 2023 alone.
The complaint accuses the unidentified defendants of invading Grande’s privacy and violating California’s Comprehensive Data Access and Fraud Act. That statute covers unauthorized access to computers and data, and has appeared in other technology-related lawsuits, including Sony’s case against George Hotz and Meta’s case involving Pegasus spyware.
How the alleged hacks happened
Variety reported that the lawsuit describes repeated attacks on people who collaborated with Grande. In one alleged incident from 2019, hackers obtained Grande-related photos from a photographer’s Dropbox account.
The filing also says unreleased footage was taken in 2020 after a producer’s mobile device was hacked, according to Variety’s report on the complaint. In another alleged episode in 2024, scammers used phishing emails to obtain unreleased photos from a technician who worked with one of Grande’s photographers.
Phishing is a common form of online fraud in which attackers pose as a trusted person or service to trick someone into handing over access or files. In this case, the lawsuit alleges that method was used to get private images before their release.
The complaint does not name the people behind the alleged leaks. By suing John Doe defendants, Grande can ask the court to help identify them during the case, a tactic often used when a plaintiff claims wrongdoing by unknown online actors.
No response from the unidentified defendants is available because their identities remain unknown. The case is pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.