Ariana Grande Settles $50,000 Paparazzi Lawsuit Over 'Sweetener'

Ariana Grande has reached a settlement with a photographer to end her $50,000 legal battle.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, photographer Robert Barbera has dismissed all claims against Grande. His lawsuit is officially settled and over.

The court documents note, “The Court having been advised that all claims asserted herein have been settled in principle, it is ORDERED that the above-entitled action be and is hereby dismissed and discontinued without costs.”

The Blast

Earlier this year, Barbera sued Grande accusing her of using his work to promote her album “Sweetener” without paying him a dime.

Barbera took a photo of Grande exiting a building in New York. He said Grande took that photo and posted it on her Instagram, the same day her album came out.

In his suit, the photographer claimed Grande did not have permission to use the photo on her Instagram page (which got over three million likes). He also claimed the copyright information on the photo was intentionally removed when Grande posted the pic.

The photo in question was posted by Grande on August 17, 2018 and she captioned the pic, "happy sweetener day."

He sued seeking $25,000 for each instance of copyright infringement (she allegedly posted two of his photos).

As The Blast first reported, in the photo, Ariana Grande is holding a clear limited edition Hermès bag that was created over two decades ago in memory of the eight people who lost their lives during the 1995 Paris bombing.

Grande got her vintage tote customized with “Sweetener” written on the side.

The singer has been very vocal about supporting victims of terrorist attacks, especially after she found herself a part of one.

In 2017, a suicide bomber took the lives of 22 people as thousands were exiting Grande’s Manchester show. Grande paid tribute to the victims on the one-year anniversary of the incident and even got a tattoo in their honor.