Lady Gaga’s worries just got a lot bigger than intrepid fans and clueless stores spilling info about her new album. After unnamed hackers allegedly stole 756 gigabytes of files from celebrity law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks — which represents stars including Gaga, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Nicki Minaj — the group leaked 2.4 gigabytes of Gaga-related material. Per Rolling Stone, it was mostly legal paperwork, including project contracts, confidentiality agreements, promotional materials, and reimbursements to Jeff Koons (whom Lady Gaga once name-dropped on “Applause”). The hackers leaked the files after the law firm declined to pay a requested $21 million ransom. “It seems that GRUBMANS doesn’t care about their clients or it was a mistake to hire a recovery company to help in the negotiations,” they wrote.
The group now requests a $42 million ransom, although a source told Rolling Stone the firm doesn’t plan to pay any money to the hackers. “We are working directly with federal law enforcement and continue to work around the clock with the world’s leading experts to address this situation,” a law firm spokesperson said. “The leaking of our clients’ documents is a despicable and illegal attack by these foreign cyberterrorists who make their living attempting to extort high-profile U.S. companies, government entities, entertainers, politicians, and others … We have been informed by the experts and the FBI that negotiating with or paying ransom to terrorists is a violation of federal criminal law. Even when enormous ransoms have been paid, the criminals often leak the documents anyway.”
Now, the hackers are threatening to leak info related to President Trump — although Rolling Stone’s firm source says Grubman never worked directly with the president. “There’s an election race going on, and we found a ton of dirty laundry,” the hackers wrote. “Mr. Trump, if you want to stay president, poke a sharp stick at the guys, otherwise you may forget this ambition forever.” The hackers previously leaked three forms related to Christina Aguilera, Madonna and Lizzo.
Sources