Ariana Grande's lawsuit against anonymous hackers, filed on Monday in Los Angeles, alleges the leaks were far more extensive than a handful of isolated breaches, with her legal team asserting that hundreds of unauthorised leaks have occurred since she began her music career in 2011. The filing also details two previously unreported incidents: in 2023, hackers reportedly gained access to and leaked 45 of her unreleased songs, and in 2024 they allegedly created a fake Gmail account and domain impersonating one of her photographers to trick a digital technician into handing over unreleased photos. The case underscores the scale and persistence of the campaign against Grande and those in her professional circle, and her team says the suit aims to deter similar conduct against artists more broadly.

The lawsuit targets unnamed "John Doe" defendants for phishing scams and hacking schemes that Grande's lawyers describe as "unlawful and egregious theft, dissemination, and exploitation of unreleased content," allegedly sold on for "significant sums of money". It builds on earlier-reported breaches, including the 2019 hack of a photographer's Dropbox account and a 2020 intrusion into a producer's phone that yielded unreleased masters, demos and recording-session footage. Grande's team says the action is intended to unmask the hackers' identities so they can be held accountable. A representative for Grande had not responded to requests for comment at the time of writing.