(Photo by: Andrew Lipovsky/NBC)

Ariana Grande Lands In Hot Water Over Instagram Post

Ariana is being sued by a paparazzi photographer for posting a picture he took to her Instagram account. Sounds outrageous, right? It’s all part of a growing trend of paparazzi suing celebrities who share photos of themselves.

In this case, the photographer’s name is Robert Barbera, and he says the photo–which shows Grande posing in white boots with a handbag that says “Sweetener”–belongs to him exclusively. In his lawsuit, he included a screenshot of Grande’s Instagram page, showing that she shared the photo without permission.

“Barbera is suing for either the profits Grande earned from the photos or $25,000 for each pic,” Buzzfeed News reported. “Grande is not the first celeb to land in legal hot water for posting a paparazzi photo. BuzzFeed News reported in December that photo agencies have been targeting stars who use their pics — without credit — on their social channels. In January, supermodel Gigi Hadid was sued by a photo agency for posting a pic it had taken of her to her 44 million Instagram followers. Kim Kardashian West, Jennifer Lopez, 50 Cent, and Jessica Simpson have also been impacted.”

Grande, who has slammed “greedy photographers” onstage during her concerts, will surely not take this lying down. Who knows? If celebrities start fighting back, maybe “stalkerazzi” photographers will be forced to get real jobs.