‘American Idol’ Winner Laine Hardy Arrested by LSU Police

American Idol winner Laine Hardy has been arrested by the Louisiana State University Police Department for secretly recording his ex-girlfriend, who is an LSU student. “Laine Reed Hardy was arrested by LSU Police today and booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for violation of 15:1303- Interception and Disclosure of Wire, Electronic, or Oral Communication,” a representative of the department told Deadline.

The American Idol Season 17 winner wrote on social media Thursday that he had “received a warrant” due to “allegations” made against him, but did not provide any further details regarding those allegations. According to NBC News, which obtained a copy of the arrest warrant, Hardy’s ex-girlfriend called the police on April 7 after she discovered a recording device in her dorm room at Azalea Hall. “The victim stated that after googling the device she learned it to be a VR-500 Voice Activated Recorder,” the warrant states according to the outlet. “The victim reported that she believes the person who left the record there to be her ex-boyfriend/Defendant (Laine Hardy.)” As the investigation continues, Hardy said he’s been “fully cooperative” with the LSUPD throughout.

Hardy continued in his social media post, “I understand that my career has thrust me into the public spotlight, and I embrace that wholeheartedly as my entire world belongs to my music and my fans. However, due to the sensitive nature of this allegation, I humbly ask for privacy at this time.” The singer, 21, concluded, “I have the utmost respect for the law and will assist in their investigation as needed moving forward.”

The Louisiana native first auditioned for American Idol in 2018, but only made it to the Top 50 of Season 16 before being sent home by judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan. However, the next season, Hardy returned the following year with a friend and was encouraged to audition again, catapulting him all the way through the finals to win Season 17.

In September 2021, Hardy debuted his first album, Here’s To Anyone, under Buena Vista Records/Industrial Media’s 19 Recordings. “During all the quarantine, we had a lot of time to kind of pace ourselves and pick the songs that we thought were best out of the other pile we had,” Hardy told PopCulture.com of the album at the time. While there were “all kinds of different routes” they could have gone, the musician couldn’t be happier with the choices they made. “The message behind Here’s To Anyone [is] like, here’s to anyone and cheers! Cheers to you,” he said.

Hardy’s first album came on the heels of his first performance at the Grand Ole Opry. “[Performing at the Opry] was a surreal moment for me and it’s a big … achievement of mine,” he told PopCulture. “A dream of mine to do.” He continued, “I never would’ve thought I was going to be up there. I never thought that, and being up there was really crazy and it was a really great memory.”