Alanis Morissette has filed a lawsuit against her ex-tour manager – accusing her of blackmail and an extortion scheme over airport trafficking charges.
The filing was made yesterday (Tuesday September 1) at a federal court in California, and saw the singer call her 2025 European tour manager, Keren Urinov, “a disgruntled” former employee, and accuse her of extortion, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation.
She alleges that Urinov blackmailed her with issues regarding drug trafficking charges, in an attempt to pressure the ‘Hand In My Pocket’ singer to sign a 15-year-long contract.
In the lawsuit, Morissette claimed that in 2025 Urinov was arrested by British airport authorities as the singer’s tour and crew tried to travel to Spain from the UK. According to the filing, the arrest, Urinov told Morissette, came as authorities found a bag of theirs that contained marijuana – which the manager reportedly carried with an Israeli medical permit – as well as a drug called xylazine, which is used as an animal tranquiliser.
Rolling Stone reports that, during questioning, the tour manager told border officers about the bag and its contents. She allegedly said that the suspected drugs belonged to her, and was released after showing them an Israeli medical marijuana license.
It was also during the tour last year that the manager is said to have told Morissette that she had gotten into legal trouble before due to carrying drugs through an airport. The filing (as per Consequence), claims that Urinov told the singer in the 2025 tour that she had been arrested once before – detained in Latin America after smuggling drugs in a surfboard.
After the tour, the filing claims, Urinov began sending “increasingly extortionate letters” to the singer and threatening to tell UK police that the bags belonged to Morissette, unless the musician signed a contract that would allow Urinov to be her manager for 15 years.
Urinov also allegedly pushed for annual raises, bonuses, and access to a US attorney that would allow her to work in the United States.
“Alanis Morissette is the victim of a calculated blackmail campaign orchestrated by a disgruntled former tour manager,” the filing (obtained by Rolling Stone) read. “Morissette will not agree to work with an incompetent blackmailer for the next 15 years or pay her a ransom under the gun.”
“Morissette is not interested in employing Urinov for 15 years… Not only because she is a blackmailer, but also because she was a terrible manager of the 2025 tour,” it added, also claiming that Urinov once made a mistake in booking a hotel that cost the singer $70,000.
In her lawsuit, Morissette has requested a jury trial and is pushing for the ex-manager to pay back $75,000 in damages as well as a fine. Urinov has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
Her 2026 tour dates continue in Chicago on September 18 with a show at Riot Fest, before four headline dates at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles in November. Last weekend, she performed at Olivia Rodrigo’s inaugural Daisy Chains Fields festival, and duetted her song ‘Ironic’ with the pop star.
