Ariana Grande Granted Fast-Track Subpoena Power to Unmask Alleged Hackers Who Sold Her Unreleased Music on the Dark Web
A Los Angeles judge has granted Ariana Grande fast-track subpoena power to identify alleged hackers who stole her unreleased music, photos and videos and sold the material on the dark web.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein ruled on August 19 that Grande does not have to comply with the usual 20-day waiting period for providing notice to defendants in her invasion of privacy lawsuit, because she currently has no way to identify them. The ruling allows her legal team to move immediately to compel third-party internet platforms to hand over account, subscriber and login data that could name the people behind the leaks.
Grande filed the underlying lawsuit on July 27, seeking a court order requiring the alleged hackers to return her private materials and barring them from further violations of her privacy (ABC News). She asked the court to permit deposition subpoenas — formal legal demands for testimony and documents — directed at third-party internet platforms to help identify the unknown defendants (MyNewsLA).
In her application for expedited discovery, Grande argued that any delay raises the risk that additional content will be stolen or sold and that the digital trail needed to identify the defendants will disappear.
Her court filings describe a sprawling operation. The hackers allegedly broke into the personal digital accounts and devices of her photographers and producers using stolen login credentials and phishing schemes, then lifted private creative output including unreleased masters, demos and recording-session footage. The defendants allegedly used multiple pseudonymous accounts across internet platforms, impersonated domain names and completed transactions through peer-to-peer payment platforms that do not publicly disclose subscriber or account-holder identity.
The scale of the alleged theft is significant. Grande and her lawyers claimed that in 2023 alone, 45 unreleased songs she was working on were stolen and leaked. Her filings state that hundreds of leaks have occurred since her 2011 music debut, causing what she describes as irreparable harm (Rolling Stone).
For an artist at Grande's level, an unreleased master is not a rough sketch — it is a commercial asset, a creative decision still in motion, and a piece of work whose value can shift the moment it reaches the public outside the artist's control. The lawsuit frames the leaks not as fan-driven curiosity but as a coordinated enterprise built on impersonation, stolen credentials and anonymous payments.
The case is due back in court on January 25 for a status hearing.
