Ariana Grande is taking her fight against alleged music hackers to the next level – asking a judge to let her dig into the records of internet platforms she believes could finally expose the people behind years of leaks.
Fresh court filings obtained by TMZ show the singer wants permission to subpoena multiple online services and third-party companies she says may be holding crucial account, subscriber and login data linked to the anonymous users accused of stealing her unreleased material.
The Thank U, Next singer claims she’s spent years trying to identify the culprits, but says they’ve consistently hidden behind throwaway accounts and peer-to-peer payment platforms.
According to the documents, the hacking and leaking are still happening – and Ariana fears vital evidence could vanish if accounts are deleted or records wiped.
In July, the 33-year-old pop star filed a lawsuit against two individuals – both named only as John Doe – over claims they illegally accessed accounts belonging to her collaborators and distributed unreleased content including songs, pictures, video and audio files.
Legal documents obtained by PEOPLE, alleged that the two John Does accessed “various personal digital accounts of photographers and producers who have worked closely” and it resulted in the “unlawful and egregious theft, dissemination, and exploitation of unreleased content.”
The lawsuit stated that the leaked files were “not intended for public consumption” and the alleged hackers profited from the leak by selling “personal data and content on the dark web for significant sums of money”.
The complaint stated: “In 2023 alone, 45 unreleased songs belonging to Ms. Grande were hacked, stolen, and leaked by Defendants. Since her music debut in 2011, hundreds of similar leaks have taken place.”
A source close to the singer told the publication: “The lawsuit is intended to serve as a deterrent against future acts of this nature – not only targeting Ariana, but also the many artists who have faced similar invasions of their privacy and theft of their creative work.
“Artists deserve the right to control how and when their art is shared with the world. The unlawful theft and distribution of creative work undermines that right and should not be tolerated.”
Ariana previously hinted she would be taking action over the leaks during an appearance on the Zach Sang Show in 2024, when she spoke about the unauthorised release of a song called Fantasize, which she worked on with producer Max Martin.
She said of Martin: “He’s just been such an incredible friend these past few years.
“We were – before I left for [to film the movie] Wicked – a few studio sessions that I did which are all over TikTok, thank you so much, I’ll see you in jail. Literally.
“Those were all written for a TV show, for something that was not for me, so Fantasize comes out, crazy, was stolen … these pirates, crooks, illegal!”
