Alanis Morissette has filed a lawsuit against her former tour manager Keren Urinov, accusing her of running a “calculated blackmail campaign.”
Morissette, 51, filed the complaint on Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to court documents. The Grammy-winning singer is suing for civil extortion, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation, and is seeking a jury trial plus compensatory damages exceeding $75,000.
The “Jagged Little Pill” artist hired Urinov to temporarily work on her 2025 world tour, the lawsuit states. The relationship soured after an incident at a European airport this past June.
In June 2025, Urinov’s bag was seized at an airport while she was flying to Spain for a concert, the filing alleges. The bag allegedly contained marijuana and xylazine, a non-opioid animal tranquilizer.
Upon Morissette and her team returning to the United Kingdom the next day, British Border Force subjected Urinov to further questioning. During that interrogation, Urinov reportedly said the drugs “belonged to her.”
The situation escalated from there. Morissette claimed that Urinov and her attorney then “sent a series of increasingly extortionate letters” threatening the singer. The alleged threat centered on a promise to “file a patently frivolous lawsuit against Morissette in the United Kingdom for unspecified claims if Morissette refused to tell British law enforcement that the alleged drugs were hers.”
Morissette’s lawsuit stated she “will not be coerced into delivering her blackmailer an extraordinary payday.” The filing seeks to “expose Urinov’s scheme and hold her accountable.”
The demands were steep. Morissette claimed Urinov attempted to extort her into “employ[ing] her as a tour director for fifteen years and pay[ing] her massive compensation.”
Urinov had already taken legal action against Morissette before this week’s filing. She filed a claim against the singer in London’s King Bench Division 13 days prior to Morissette’s lawsuit. That court handles cases involving defamation, misuse of private information, data protection, and harassment by publication. The specific allegations Urinov is making remain unclear.
The timeline traces back to last year when Morissette brought Urinov on board for temporary tour work. What began as a professional arrangement for the 2025 global trek devolved into an international legal battle spanning two continents, with criminal allegations, threatened immigration consequences, and competing lawsuits now in play across Los Angeles and London courtrooms.
Morissette described Urinov in the filing as a “disgruntled” ex-employee. The singer’s legal team is framing the entire episode as a deliberate shakedown rather than a legitimate employment dispute.
