Alanis Morissette is locked in a bitter legal battle with a former tour manager who the singer claims threatened to falsely implicate her in a drug trafficking scandal unless she received a lucrative 15-year employment deal.
The 52-year-old “You Oughta Know” singer filed a federal lawsuit against former temporary tour manager Keren Urinov on September 1, accusing her of civil extortion, fraud and negligent misrepresentation.
The explosive dispute traces back to an airport incident during Morissette’s 2025 European tour.
According to Morissette’s lawsuit, Urinov was temporarily working as her tour manager when the singer and her team prepared to travel from the United Kingdom to Spain in July 2025.
British Border Force officials allegedly selected a bag for inspection at Farnborough Airport.
Morissette claims Urinov identified the luggage as her own.
The lawsuit says Urinov later told members of the touring party that authorities had issued a seizure notice alleging the bag contained marijuana and xylazine.
Xylazine is a powerful sedative approved for veterinary use in the United States. The FDA says it is not approved for human use and has increasingly appeared in the illegal drug supply, often mixed with opioids.
According to Morissette’s complaint, Urinov showed British authorities an Israeli medical marijuana license and was ultimately released.
The legal filing claims Urinov again acknowledged ownership of the luggage and its contents when questioned during subsequent travel.
But Morissette alleges the situation changed dramatically after the tour ended.
According to the lawsuit, Urinov and her attorney began sending what Morissette’s legal team described as increasingly threatening letters.
Morissette claims Urinov demanded that the singer tell British authorities that the drugs belonged to Morissette or face further legal action.
Even more startling, Morissette alleges Urinov offered another way to make the dispute disappear.
The lawsuit claims Urinov proposed that Morissette hire her as a full-time tour director for 15 years, with substantial compensation, annual raises and bonuses.
Morissette refused.
Her attorneys allege Urinov then threatened to report the singer to British authorities for drug trafficking.
Morissette’s lawyers characterized the alleged conduct as a calculated attempt to force the Grammy-winning performer into an enormous long-term financial commitment.
The singer is asking a jury to hear the case and is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
Court records list the case as a federal fraud dispute and state that Morissette seeks damages exceeding $75,000.
That figure does not necessarily mean Morissette believes her losses total exactly $75,000. The lawsuit was filed under federal diversity jurisdiction, where the amount in controversy generally must exceed that threshold.
Morissette also used the lawsuit to criticize Urinov’s work during the 2025 tour.
According to the complaint, the singer claims one hotel-booking mistake allegedly cost her nearly $70,000.
Those accusations are disputed.
Urinov has denied that she attempted to blackmail Morissette.
Her attorney, Mark Lewis, has said Urinov “totally rejects any allegation of blackmail” and wants the dispute decided in court so she can clear her name.
Entertainment Weekly also reported that Urinov filed her own case against Morissette in London’s High Court on August 19, nearly two weeks before Morissette filed her California lawsuit.
That British matter has reportedly been categorized as a media and communications claim, although the precise allegations behind it have not been publicly detailed.
As a result, Morissette’s version of events remains an allegation rather than an established finding by a judge or jury.
The dispute marks another ugly legal fight involving someone once trusted to help manage Morissette’s career.
Years earlier, the singer discovered that former business manager Jonathan Todd Schwartz had stolen millions of dollars from her and other celebrity clients.
Federal prosecutors said Schwartz embezzled approximately $7.2 million from clients, including about $4.8 million from Morissette.
He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax fraud and was sentenced in May 2017 to six years in federal prison.
A judge also ordered him to pay more than $8.6 million in restitution.
The current case against Urinov is very different because no criminal conviction has occurred and the competing accusations have yet to be resolved.
For now, Morissette is asking a federal court in Los Angeles to determine whether the employment demands and alleged threats surrounding the airport incident crossed the line into unlawful extortion.
Urinov, meanwhile, maintains she did nothing of the sort.
With legal actions now unfolding on both sides of the Atlantic, the full story behind the disputed luggage, the alleged drugs and the extraordinary 15-year employment demand may ultimately have to be sorted out in court.