‘Idol’ Winner Laine Hardy Jailed for Charges of Spying on Ex-Girlfriend
Laine Hardy, the Season 17 winner of “American Idol,” was arrested by the Louisiana State Police on Friday and booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for allegedly spying on his ex-girlfriend at her Louisiana State University residence.
A rep from the LSU Office of Communications & University Relations confirmed to TheWrap that Hardy has been arrested on a violation of Louisiana Statute 15:1303, “Interception and Disclosure of Wire, Electronic, or Oral Communication.”
Hardy is accused of planting a recording device in his ex-girlfriend’s room at Azalea Hall “to monitor her conversations” when they broke up. The two dated from November 2021 through February 2022, according to the New York Post. Hardy is a Louisiana native who lives in Livingston Parish, but does not attend LSU.
According to prison booking documents, on April 7, the student and her roommate found a device under her futon and determined that it was a VR-500 voice activated recorder. She turned it over to SUPD, who found audio from February of Hardy’s “distinguishable voice” and other people calling him by name.
On Thursday night, Hardy shared a Facebook post that now appears to have been deleted, in which he said he was cooperating with police on the matter, but did not disclose what he was being accused of.
“Earlier today, I received a warrant due to allegations made against me and have been fully cooperative with the Louisiana State University Police Department,” Hardy wrote. “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.”
He added, “I have the utmost respect for the law and will assist in their investigation as needed moving forward,” he said.
Booking documents indicate that after the woman confronted Hardy when he knew details from her Christmas break that she had never shared with him, he “admitted that he left a ‘bug’ in her room,” but claimed to have thrown it in a pond. According to the police, she can be heard on the audio discussing how she knew about the listening device.
His attorney C. Frank Holthaus said in a statement shared with the media: “Mr. Hardy did receive a warrant for his arrest [Thursday] and has been and will continue to be completely cooperative with the Baton Rouge Police Department on this matter. Due to the public nature of Mr. Hardy’s profession, we ask for privacy at this time.”
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
