Ariana Grande has secured court approval to issue expedited subpoenas as she seeks to uncover the identities of hackers accused of leaking her unreleased music and footage.
A Los Angeles judge approved Grande’s request on Tuesday. The ruling allows her legal team to quickly seek information that could help identify the anonymous hackers.
Judge Mark H. Epstein said the court had no reason to delay the process because Grande could not identify the defendants.
“Given that there is no one to whom notice can be given anyway, it makes little sense to wait the 16 days,” Epstein wrote. “And on the merits of the motion, good cause is shown.”
Grande’s attorneys had asked the court to speed up the discovery process. They argued that the alleged “hacking, theft, dissemination, sales, and publication” of her creative properties could continue without immediate action.
The lawyers also warned that hackers could steal or sell more content. They said account, subscriber and login information needed to identify the suspects could also disappear.
Grande filed the lawsuit on July 27 against a group of unnamed John Does. She accused them of using phishing scams and hacking schemes to access unreleased content.
Her lawyers said the hackers targeted the personal digital accounts of photographers and producers who worked closely with the singer. They allegedly sold the stolen data and content for “significant sums of money.”
The lawsuit claims that hackers have leaked hundreds of pieces of Grande’s content over the past 15 years. In 2023 alone, the suit alleges, hackers accessed and leaked 45 of her unreleased songs.
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