Alanis Morissette Accused of Denying Songwriting Credit For Her Iconic Album Jagged Little Pill in New Lawsuit

Alanis Morissette has found herself in a court battle over her Jagged Little Pill and is being accused of plagiarizing the massively successful album.

via: Daily Mail

According to Radar Online, Joseph Michael Hunt has filed a lawsuit against the 50-year-old singer–songwriter that alleges he co-wrote the 1995 LP with Morissette.

Hunt filed his complaint against Morissette and Epiphany Productions Inc. in November 2024.

However, the summons reportedly went unanswered until last month, when the defendants request that the lawsuit be dismissed.

DailyMail.com has reached out for comment to representatives of Morissette.

Morissette — who performed last month at the FireAid concert to raise recovery funds in the wake of the deadly LA Fires — is credited with writing all of the lyrics on Jagged Little Pill, while each of the compositions are jointly credited to her and Glen Ballard, who also produced the LP.

Ballard has described the songwriting and recording process for the album as largely taking place solely between himself and Morissette, with the two writing some songs in as little as an hour.

Ballard has said he recorded most of the instrumental demo parts for the rough backing tracks in his studio, while Morissette sang and played harmonica.

The duo reportedly tried to keep later overdubs to a minimum, and even for songs that were rerecorded later, they still used Morissette's original vocal takes, which were usually completed in one or two takes.

While speaking to Radar Online, Hunt claimed: 'Alanis has been asked for years to return my intellectual properties. She hasn't...'

He accused the rocker of 's[elling] her soul long ago,' and he opined that she was 'a talented bully.'

It's unclear under what circumstances Hunt claims he was involved in the writing of Jagged Little Pill's songs, or if he claims to have co-written every song — as Ballard is credited for doing — or only some of them.

The album was Morissette's third, following two pop-oriented albums that underwhelmed commercially and received mixed reviews. 

The first two albums were allowed to go out of print with the release of Jagged Little Pill, which featured a grunge-inflected alternative rock sound.

The album was a hit with critics and a massive commercial success.

While it only debuted at 117 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, it had climbed to number one within four months, where it stayed for 12 weeks. The album has since been certified Platinum 17 times in the US alone, indicating sales of more than 17 million units.

The lead single and most popular song from the album is the second track, You Oughta Know, a kiss-off breakup song referencing an unnamed ex-boyfriend that reached number six on the billboard Hot 100 singles chart and topped the US Alternative Airplay chart.

Although Morissette hasn't ever named an inspiration for the hit, the comedian and Full House star Dave Coulier has been rumored to be the subject.

He has even indicated that certain lines sparked memories of his relationship with Morissette, but the singer later denied that he was the subject in the 2021 documentary Jagged, which focused on the recording and release of Jagged Little Pill.