Laine Hardy, the 2019 winner of American Idol, was arrested on Friday after an ex-girlfriend accused the artist of placing a listening device in her dorm room.
Hardy was booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on a charge of interception and disclosure of wire, electronic or oral communication after LSU police arrested him, a school spokesperson told NBC News.
According to TMZ, police have said they can hear Hardy's voice on the bug, while conversations his ex had with her mother -- about her split from Laine -- were also captured on the device.
The arrest came hours after Hardy said in social media posts (below) that he was cooperating with university police after a “sensitive” allegation was made against him.
He did not provide additional details, simply writing:
"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. I have the utmost respect for the law and will assist in their investigation as needed moving forward."
Based the arrest warrant, authorities were called to Azalea Hall on April 7 after the ex-girlfriend discovered a recording device in her room.
"The victim stated that after googling the device she learned it to be a VR-500 Voice Activated Recorder," the warrant states.
"The victim reported that she believes the person whom left the record there to be her ex-boyfriend/Defendant (Laine Hardy.)"
The unnamed student told authorities that she and Hardy (who was raised in the area, but is not a student at the school) dated from November 2021 until February 2022.
As for how this woman determined Hardy was to blame?
"The victim advised that on the weekend of Feb 18th she found a fake Instagram account on the Defendant's phone that he used to cover up that he was illegally recording her when he was not around," the warrant continues.
"Note that the Defendant had information about the victim and her actions during Christmas break that was not known to the Defendant."
The woman said she "immediately confronted him to which he admitted to her that he left a 'bug' in her room but later discarded it in his pond."
Hardy first appearred on Season 16 of American Idol, only advancing to the Top 50 that time around.
He was convinced a year later to give it another shot by judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie after accompanying a friend to his audition.
This time, he made it all the way to the final and won the competition, defeating fellow finalists Alejandro Aranda and Madison VanDenburg in the process.