Alanis Morissette Sues Former Tour Manager, Alleges ‘Extortionate’ Threat Over Airport Drugs

The singer's new lawsuit claims she is "the victim of a calculated blackmail campaign"

Alanis Morissette is suing her former tour manager for civil extortion, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation

Alanis Morissette is accusing her former tour manager of making “extortionate” threats to falsely implicate the singer in airport drug possession and trafficking allegations unless Morissette agreed to hire her under a 15-year contract.

“Plaintiff Alanis Morissette is the victim of a calculated blackmail campaign orchestrated by a disgruntled former tour manager,” the new lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court and obtained by Rolling Stone reads. “Morissette will not agree to work with an incompetent blackmailer for the next fifteen years or pay her a ransom under the gun.”

The six-page filing alleges that tour manager Keren Urinov was flagged for inspection and detained at a U.K. airport in 2025 while traveling with Morissette and her team for a concert in Spain. 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, according to the lawsuit. During questioning, Urinov allegedly told border officers that the bag and its contents, including the suspected drugs, belonged to her. She also showed officers an Israeli medical marijuana license and was released, the lawsuit claims.

According to the complaint, Urinov was detained again in Spain and later said she told border officials that the bag and the drugs belonged to her. After the tour ended, however, Urinov and her lawyer allegedly sent Morissette what the lawsuit describes as a series of “increasingly extortionate” letters threatening to sue.

Morissette alleges Urinov demanded that the singer tell British law enforcement that the drugs were hers or face litigation. According to the complaint, Urinov said Morissette could put “an end to the matter” by giving her a 15-year, full-time employment contract that would include significant compensation, annual raises, and bonuses. Urinov also allegedly demanded that Morissette hire an immigration lawyer for her.

When Morissette refused what the lawsuit calls the “brazen demands,” Urinov and her lawyer responded with a letter purportedly implying Urinov would accuse Morissette of drug trafficking. Morissette says she filed her own lawsuit “reluctantly,” knowing that “attacks on her character” could follow. She believed she had “no choice” to protect herself against “patently frivolous” allegations.

Attempts to reach Urinov were unsuccessful.

Morissette is suing for civil extortion, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation. She is seeking a jury trial, compensatory damages of more than $75,000, and punitive damages.

Grammy-winning musician, songwriter and producer Finneas tied the knot with longtime partner Claudia Sulewski on Saturday, Aug. 29, in Montecito, California. The star-studded ceremony took place at San Ysidro Ranch, surrounded by family and friends.

Officiating the ceremony was none other than Finneas’ younger sister and creative collaborator, Billie Eilish.

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The wedding brought together a constellation of stars, as the guest list is rumoured to have included Justin and Hailey Bieber, Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard, Jason Sudeikis, Nina Dobrev, Emma Chamberlain and Rachel Sennott.

Sulewski, an actor, creator and entrepreneur, went all-in on the fashion side, wearing four custom looks from Oscar de la Renta. The couple first met in 2018 after connecting on a dating app. Their relationship has also found its way into FINNEAS’ music, including his 2019 song “Claudia,” which was inspired by Sulewski.

Christopher Cross performs at Pine Knob Music Theatre on August 29, 2026 in Clarkston, Michigan.

Christopher Cross apologized to Canadians at Toronto’s RBC Amphitheatre Sunday night, the venue on the banks of recently ballyhooed Lake Ontario, calling President Trump “an asshole” and urging the crowd to not “give up on us.”

The “Sailing” singer didn’t have to get into any detail. Trump recently signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” imposed a 50 percent tariff on $20 billion of Canadian goods after the collapse of trade negotiations, called Canadian officials “nasty people,” and Canada “one of the worst countries in the world to deal with.”

Cross didn’t mention the lake-naming — or that the venue hosting the night‘s headliners, Toto, butts the actual Lake Ontario — but the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, best known for yacht rock classics like “Sailing,” “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” and “Ride Like the Wind,” made his feelings abundantly clear.

At the concert, Cross opened with his 2011 song “Dreamers,” which included a snippet of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. “It’s a recording from something quite famous in our country, but you may not know what it was, but it was a gentleman named Dr. Martin Luther King, speaking about civil rights,” Cross said from the stage. The audience responded in kind. “It represents a very dark time in my country, which is happening again.”

Each line he spoke was met with increasingly louder cheers. Cross continued: “I want to tell you that we love your country and appreciate your country very much. … I’m just very sorry and embarrassed that we have an asshole for a president. But don’t give up on us. We have an election coming up, and we’re going to do our best to fix it. … And then we’ll be buying all your shit again, and you’ll be buying all our shit again. [cheers] We can be victims of corporate greed together.“ (Several Canadian provinces and territories have banned the sale of U.S. liquor in response to American tariffs.)

“Alright, enough of my preaching here,” Cross said. “I’m sure you’ll be reading in the paper where I’ve been ejected from the country, but that’s okay. I wanted to say what I had to say.”

Watch his comments in full below:

Trump‘s war of words with America‘s neighbor to the north has been a source of much tension between the two nations, with Trump belittling Canada and suggesting it become the 51st state. As he approaches the two-year mark of his second term, he has been ramping up the rhetoric. On Saturday, he posted a bizarre AI-created video of himself as a Canada goose with an army of geese carrying machine guns set to the “Hawaii Five-O” theme song. At the end, the flock fires into the Toronto skyline. The caption read: “Lake America — Protected by Donald Ducks.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded with a social media post tracing the history of the name Lake Ontario to the Wendat word Ontari’io, stating its origin is “more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.” He added, “Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always.”

Cross is wrapping a 32-date North American tour with Toto. His 1980 hit, ”Ride Like the Wind,“ was featured prominently in the latest season of HBO‘s Euphoria.

Tim Armstrong, Travis Barker, Billie Joe Armstrong, C.J. Ramone, and Billy Idol perform at the Ramones 50th Anniversary Tribute

Onstage in a red — though not raspberry — beret, a bearded John Travolta introduced the inaugural performance from punk all-stars Cretin Family for the Ramones 50th Anniversary Tribute by resurrecting the geriatric cemetery joke: people were literally dying to get in. There was no rim shot from Blink-182-Cretin drummer Travis Barker, but the raucous performance by the Cretins, rounded out by Rancid guitarist (and the event’s musical director) Tim Armstrong; Green Day singer-guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong; and Ramones bassist CJ Ramone, could have raised the dead.

In this legendary internment oasis in the middle of a gritty Hollywood neighborhood, the departed “audience members” include classic cinema stars Rudolph Valentino and Jayne Mansfield, along with classic punk rock star Dee Dee Ramone, who rests not far from the imposing 8-foot guitar statue/cenotaph honoring his musical brother, guitarist Johnny Ramone.

The onstage vocal guests were as diverse as those below ground, and the confused curiosity about Travolta’s participation and the post-concert screening of his amiable autobiographical film, Propeller One-Way Night Coach, faded as the nascent band kicked off their set with “Rockaway Beach,” marking, as Billie Joe noted, the first time he’d ever performed with hard-hitting superstar drummer and multi-hyphenate celeb Barker.

From “Cretin Hop” into “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment,” West Coast punk honored their East Coast legends and forefathers, the revered and influential Ramones tied only with Motorhead in the cool and ubiquitous T-shirt category. The Ramones’ appeal and fame crosses genders and ages, as onstage vocal guests — and an audience that included toddlers on shoulders — proved. Fred Armisen, who has his own Ramones covers band, delivered 1980s lyrically detailed and poignant Joey Ramone tune “Danny Says” as the first guest star of the 20-song set.

If the Ramones have been covered and honored by everyone from U2 to Rob Zombie to Sonic Youth, their own covers are likewise diverse, leaning into old American gems including the sped-up wonder of Bobby Freeman’s 1958 “Do You Wanna Dance.” The Cretins were doing a cover of a cover. It’s easy to imagine the late classic Ramones lineup of Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny, and Tommy appreciating the evening’s aural tributes in their own decidedly Noo Yawk manner, but it was especially hard to resist L.A.’s the Linda Lindas, whose vocals and youthfully energetic goofiness shone on the Riveras’ surf-rock hit “California Sun.”

Following her onstage stint and hanging with her mom, Linda Lindas guitarist-singer Lucia de la Garza, 19, tells Rolling Stone, “We grew up listening to the Ramones in the car and at home. We learned, ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’ [which they performed with the Cretin Family] at the very beginning, I must have been 11 or 12.” Her band has toured with Green Day and Rancid, but she’s “pretty sure” they were initially invited to participate in this anniversary show by Johnny Ramone’s widow, Linda, who they’d met at their 2024 album release show. “This is just such an honor,” de la Garza said. “And we really wanted the chance to meet CJ and Travis.”

Linda Ramone is a key player in the band’s history and songs, and keeper of the Ramones flame through this annual official event that benefits Ellison Medical Institute for cancer research. (Johnny died of prostate cancer in 2005 at the age of 55.) Resplendent in lavender sequin cape and dashing cavalier hat, Linda was the belle and impetus of the hotly anticipated and sold-out Official Ramones 50th Anniversary Tribute. A busy and behemoth backstage found folks like Motley Crue occasional guitarist John 5 lining up at the In-N-Out Burger truck, with Starcrawler singer Arrow De Wilde, Foo Fighters/Nirvana/Germs guitarist Pat Smear, and other local musicians mingling in the large parking lot, surrounded by graves and massive mausoleums.

Across decades of banddom, the leather-clad Ramones radiated on sunny songs including another cover favorite, “Surfin’ Bird,” done ably by the Cretins. The “Family” band even had a guest “pinhead” with a “Gabba Gabba Hey” sign onstage, the character known to Ramones fans from Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. It might have been an “if you know you know” moment. But most in the thousands-strong crowd knew, and appreciated.

The strident and staccato “Rock and Roll Radio” was a standout, but it was all phone cameras aloft when Billy Idol took the stage, performing a song perfect for his patented snarl, “Beat on the Brat.” He and the Cretins also did a good version of one of his own older songs with Generation X, “Ready Steady Go.” Idol contextualized the tune and his own debt to NYC’s own, telling the crowd, “it’s like the Roundhouse in London in 1976. We all sped up our music after we heard the Ramones. It was fucking great.”

There’s no replicating the classic Ramones vibe, playing, or energy, but if Barker was almost too beefy and hard-hitting a player, and the guest stars breaking up the flow of a classic, frantic Ramones concert, the spirit, joy, and songs were undeniable.

While a large portion of the crowd filed out after the Cretin Family debut, Hollywood Forever is renowned for its outdoor film series, and many people were spread across the lawn — and grave-adjacent — for a post-concert movie. It was certainly a classic — the Brian De Palma-directed, Stephen King-created Carrie — but why not King’s film Pet Sematary (which features two Ramones cuts, including the title track), or the most iconic film associated with the band, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School?

Still, as Travolta pointed out as he introduced his own film post-concert, five cast members from Carrie were on hand (he played high schooler Billy Nolan in the film), including Nancy Allen and P.J. Soles, the latter portraying spirited super-fan Riff Randell in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. But they declined to join Travolta onstage despite his urgings.

It’s been 50 years since the Ramones’ self-titled debut launched, 14 iconic songs wrought in less than 30 minutes. All four original members have been gone since 2014, but the legacy lives large across generations: “Blitzkrieg Bop” was redone into a song for kids; “Beat on the Brat” escaped any woke policing despite its (humorous) imprecation to violence, and one can only imagine (hope) that “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” would likewise be granted immunity. The Cretin Family band may live onstage — and who knows if the tribute be a one-time event — but the Ramones’ own cretin family of fans clearly live everywhere for all-time.

Platinum-selling singer D4vd pleaded not guilty Monday at his rearraignment on charges he sexually abused 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez before killing and dismembering her and concealing her remains in the front trunk of his Tesla. He also switched out his defense team, replacing high-profile lawyers Blair Berk and Marilyn Bednarski with two public defenders.

After the hearing, Bednarski said “there is no conflict,” and that D4vd, born David Anthony Burke, made the decision. She declined to say how he might qualify for a publicly funded defense considering his financial success as a recording artist.

“This morning, the court granted our request to withdraw as counsel and appoint the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, after it was determined David qualified for appointed counsel,” Berk, Bednarski, and third lawyer Regina Peter said in a written statement handed out in the hallway outside the courtroom. “We continue to support David and his defense against these serious charges. We are grateful that the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office had taken over the representation and that David has a highly capable and committed team of attorneys and investigators behind him.”

After the hearing, Burke smiled and shook hands with Berk and Peter. He appeared to look around for Bednarski before deputies led him back into custody.

Burke’s new lawyer, Los Angeles County Public Defender Walid Kandeel, asked to delay Burke’s arraignment following the preliminary hearing so he could review transcripts in the case. Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo denied the request, noting that Burke still faced the same three charges filed against him when he was arrested in April.

“[The new charging document] is three counts, the same three in the complaint. It’s not particularly complicated. I don’t think you need to review,” Olmedo said. Kandeel then entered a not guilty plea on Burke’s behalf. Olmedo set the next hearing for Oct. 19. No trial date has been set.

Monday’s hearing came after Rolling Stone published an investigation into the “Romantic Homicide” singer earlier this month that detailed a pattern of concerning behavior, much of which predated his alleged abuse of the girl.

Burke, 21, is fighting charges he murdered Rivas Hernandez while lying in wait, for financial gain, and to prevent her from reporting the alleged sexual abuse. He also faces charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

A five-day preliminary hearing ended in late July with Judge Olmedo ruling that prosecutors had presented enough evidence to send him to trial. About a dozen witnesses testified, most of them law enforcement officers, though prosecutors also called financial employees from Burke’s management company and his record label, Darkroom/Interscope, part of Universal Music Group.

“It appears to me, for the purposes of preliminary hearing, the people have met their burden of proof on all charges,” Olmedo said. “I order that Mr. Burke be held to answer.”

Prosecutors allege Burke sexually abused Rivas Hernandez for more than a year before killing her on April 23, 2025, after the 14-year-old threatened to expose him. They say he dismembered her body in his garage with a chainsaw, placed her torso and head in a cadaver bag and her limbs in a black laundry bag, then concealed the remains in the Tesla Model X with air fresheners scattered around the vehicle.

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman called Burke a “very clever adult” who groomed and “gaslit” Rivas Hernandez. She argued investigators had presented a “mountain of evidence” that easily cleared the relatively low threshold required at a preliminary hearing. “We have a minor who was sexually abused for many, many months,” Silverman told the judge. “She was groomed.”

Silverman said sexually graphic messages between the pair included discussions of contraception, pregnancy, and abortion. Even after Burke ended their relationship in late 2024, she argued, he “continued to use the victim for sex,” contributing to the emotional turmoil reflected in Rivas Hernandez’s messages.

Messages and photographs recovered from Burke’s iCloud account and a phone seized from his residence showed Rivas Hernandez discussing pregnancy and an abortion with him in January 2024, when she was 13, and he was an adult. Messages spanning November 2023 through April 2025 showed she repeatedly expressed fears about becoming pregnant.

Burke told the girl he wanted her to live with him and that they would marry. When she wrote in June 2024 that she feared the abortion had failed and that she might still be pregnant, he mocked her concern. “You would have a baby bump lmao you had hella periods since then. What the fuck you smoke?” he wrote in an exchange presented at the hearing. “Nah first baby gone.”

Burke and Rivas Hernandez “broke up” in November 2024, prosecutors say, but the sexual abuse continued. By March 2025, she appeared increasingly frustrated. “All we do is have sex and just hang out man I want more than that for myself,” she texted Burke.

On April 22, 2025, the pair argued at length over text messages as Rivas Hernandez expressed jealousy over Burke’s relationship with Aysia Collins, a friend and stylist on his Withered tour. During the exchange, Rivas Hernandez threatened to reveal their relationship and ruin his career. She said she wanted to see Burke, and he agreed to send a car.

Burke’s lawyers argued during the preliminary hearing that prosecutors failed to establish that he killed Rivas Hernandez, much less that he planned her death in advance. Defense lawyer Marilyn Bednarski said Rivas Hernandez invited herself over that night and Burke was still playing a multiplayer virtual-reality game around the time she arrived.

Bednarski also pointed to scores of messages in which Burke expressed affection for Rivas Hernandez, saying they showed “the opposite of homicidal animus.” “Dismemberment is post-mortem conduct. It says nothing about what caused the death, when, where or how,” she argued. “We cannot impute malice from concealment.”

After Olmedo ordered Burke to stand trial, a lawyer for Rivas Hernandez’s parents criticized the defense for suggesting she may have been suicidal or violent toward Burke. “The family was horrified that the defense attorneys brought up evidence to put the blame on a 14-year-old child,” lawyer Patrick Steinfeld said.

Steinfeld also disputed Burke’s claim that Rivas Hernandez initially told him she was 18. He pointed to evidence that sheriff’s deputies contacted Burke in February 2024, after her parents reported her missing, and told him she was 13.

“He knew because he was told in February of 2024 that Celeste was only 13 years old,” Steinfeld said.

Drake is doing well on the charts this year, but it looks like he's going after 2026's biggest hit so far.

At an appearance at a Toronto club this weekend, Drake previewed what appears to be a remix of Ella Langley’s “Choosin’ Texas,” giving the country hit the Drizzy treament. In the brief clip circulating online, Drake can be heard crooning over the reworked production, following the melody of Langley’s original hook, though lyrics are hard to make out. Neither artist has announced a release date for the remix.

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Drake has been a vocal supporter of Langley's music, having first showed public interest in “Choosin’ Texas” earlier this year and playing the song during a Houston club set. In August, he responded to a video of Langley rapping along to his 2011 track “HYFR” by praising her songwriting, calling her pen “goated.”

Then, on Aug. 22, Drake turned up at Langley’s sold-out concert in North Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was filmed singing and dancing along to “Choosin’ Texas.” The two were photographed together backstage afterward.

“Choosin’ Texas” has been the defining song of 2026, spending 19 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 and breaking record after record along the way. It is now tied for the longest-running No. 1 in the chart’s history among non-holiday songs.