Alanis Morissette is suing her former tour manager, Keren Urinov, for extortion after Urinov allegedly threatened to frame the singer for drug trafficking unless Morissette provided her a 15-year employment contract.
Morissette, 52, is a seven-time Grammy winner known for her boundary-breaking 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, which sold 33 million copies globally and features hits like “You Oughta Know” and “Hand in My Pocket.” Rolling Stone called her “the undisputed queen of alt-rock angst,” and she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2026.
“Plaintiff Alanis Morissette is the victim of a calculated blackmail campaign orchestrated by a disgruntled former tour manager,” the lawsuit reads. “Morissette will not agree to work with an incompetent blackmailer for the next 15 years or pay her a ransom under the gun.”
The filing is six pages long and alleges that Urinov, who managed Morissette’s 2025 world tour, was flagged for inspection and detained at a U.K. airport while the team was traveling for a Spain concert.
According to the lawsuit, Urinov later told Morissette and others that British authorities had arrested her and issued a seizure notice stating that her bag contained marijuana and xylazine. Urinov allegedly told border officers during questioning that the bag and its contents were her own. Officers released her after she showed them an Israeli medical marijuana license, the lawsuit said.
After the tour’s end, Urinov sent “increasingly extortionate” letters threatening to sue Morissette unless she told British authorities the drugs were hers. She said that Morissette could put “an end to the matter” by hiring her for a 15-year, full-time employment contract that would include “an income equivalent to that of a tour director with annual increases and bonuses,” according to the lawsuit. Urinov also allegedly demanded that Morissette hire her an immigration lawyer.
When Morissette refused what the lawsuit calls “brazen demands,” Urinov and her lawyer allegedly implied she would accuse Morissette of drug trafficking.
Morissette said she “reluctantly” filed the lawsuit and that she had “no choice” but to protect herself against “patently frivolous” allegations. She also said she’s aware that “attacks on her character” might follow.
Morissette is suing Urinov for civil extortion, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation, seeking more than $75,000 in damages.
