Karleuša also signed a four-year contract with Heaven Music and was supposed to release an extended play in English, which eventually failed to be realized.
Later that year in December, she released the single "Insomnia", which covered a song from the Bollywood movie Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.
During the same year, Karleuša also landed a column in the daily newspaper Kurir, which saw widespread attention for her progressive views, such as those on the LGBT community, but also for her outspoken comments on public figures like Ceca and Dragan Marković.
[29] Additionally, she cut her ties with RTV Pink and City Records following a disagreement with its owner and CEO, Željko Mitrović.
[33][34] The following year, Jelena's style was praised by Kardashian in her Woman Crush Wednesday column, claiming that she heard of Karleuša only after the media allegations.
Karleuša initially planned to settle a lawsuit for copyright infringement against the creators, but eventually gave up due to her "respect of the late singer".
[36] In March 2016, she made a guest performance at the Vodafone Park in Istanbul after her husband's team, Beşiktaş J.K. had won the national championship.
[37] On 28 June 2017, Karleuša presented her first releases since 2013; duets with Aca Lukas and Azis, respectively titled "Bankina" and "Ostavljam te", which were performed in the live finale of Zvezde Granda.
[39] Karleuša was joined on stage by the girl-group Hurricane, who were supposed to represent Serbia at the Eurovision Song Contest that year, and singer Milica Pavlović.
[41] For the New Year's Eve, Karleuša performed alongside Marija Šerifović and Sara Jo in front of the House of the National Assembly to the estimated crowd of 50,000 people.
[44] Subsequently, on 13 and 20 August, Karleuša released back-to-back her long-awaited studio albums, entitled Alpha and Omega, under JK Entrainment and in distribution deal with Virgin Music Group and Telekom Srbija.
The live show, which was broadcast on several regional TV channels, featured performances from the artists whom Karleuša collaborated with on Alpha and Omega – Milica Pavlović, Devito, Sajsi MC and Mimi Mercedez.
[50] On 25 November, Karleuša held a promo event at Galerija Belgrade for the launch of her fragrance and body mists, named JA after an Omega album track.
Karleuša's claims were supported by the pro-government tabloid Informer,[55] but were soon debunked after photos from the show were shared online and it became apparent that the attendance was low.
[57] On 7 January 2025, Christmas Day according to the Julian calendar followed by the Serbian Orthodox Church, Prva Srpska Televizija aired a television special Gala veče s Jelenom Karleušom featuring Karleuša performing in front of the Museum of Yugoslavia, accompanied by a symphony orchestra.
[80] Karleuša has developed a reputation for disputes with several local public figures on social media, particularly Instagram and Twitter, including: Svetlana Ceca Ražnatović, Veljko and Anastasija Ražnatović, Aca Lukas, Severina, Viki Miljković, Baka Prase, Vanja Knežević, Marija Šerifović, Rada Manojlović, Aleksandra Prijović, Maya Berović, Vojislav Šešelj, Dijana Janković, Dragan Marković, Ivana Stamenković, Ognjen Vranješ, Kristijan Golubović, Breskvica, Saša Vidić, Ivan Ivanović, Voyage, Sloboda Mićalović, Edita Aradinović, Ana Nikolić, Saša Popović, Seka Aleksić, Nada Obrić, Milan Radulović Laća, Dara Bubamara, Nucci, Vanja Knežević, Neda Ukraden, Emina Jahović, and several international public figures like Kim Kardashian, Nikita Dragun, Dua Lipa, and Madonna.
[81][82][83] After Croatian singer Severina got denied entry in Serbia in August 2024, due to her comments on Srebrenica genocide, Karleuša took to Instagram to publicly insult her and accusing her of drug dealing, fascism and hate.
[92][93] Afterwards, Karleuša would continue to accuse Vučković on numerous occasions of endorsing the Ustasha genocide of Serbs and the Operation Storm exodus.
[94][95][96][97][98] In 2021, Vanja Knežević came into the public spotlight when she was disqualified from the Zvezde Granda competition, after she shared insulting comments on Instagram about the then member of the jury, Karleuša.
Couple of months prior to that, Vanja was performing on the competition, upon which two got into argument regarding Knežević’s singing and physical appearance, which Karleuša called “18 year old aunt”.
[107] Moreover, in November 2021, Karleuša supported the mining operation in the Jadar region proposed by Rio Tinto and the Serbian Government, in spite of the national protests against it due to its potentially hazardous effects on the environment.
[111] Opposition member of the National Assembly, Đorđe Stanković, alleged that Karleuša would receive €1.5 million from Telekom for her forthcoming album and a talk show.
[130] On 10 April 2018, Karleuša was interrogated under suspicion of spreading panic amidst the national measles epidemic, after she had publicly advocated for the freedom of choice when it comes to MMR vaccination.
[133][134] At the beginning of 2019, Serbian media started reporting on Karleuša having an affair with Bosnian footballer Ognjen Vranješ, which she initially firmly denied.
[135] The scandal subsequently erupted when nude photos of her started circulating the web and were eventually placed on the cover of every daily tabloid in Serbia.
[136] Furthermore, Karleuša's Twitter account got suspended after she had posted private nude photos of Vranješ, which she claimed she had received from a female singer who had been involved with him.
Due to her private life, between January and February 2019, Karleuša made 110 front-page headlines of the daily newspapers, where she was presented in mostly negative light.
[140] Brankica Janković, the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, stated that tabloids continued breaking the Codex of journalism by promoting "belittling and insulting" content as well as gender stereotypes in spite of reprimands from the Ministry.
[143] In June 2019, Karleuša verbally and physically assaulted the Kurir paparazzo Vladimir Šporčić who was taking photos of her while she was visiting her mother's grave at the Bežanija New Cemetery.
The Third Basic Public Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade submited an indictment to the court in March 2021; Karleuša was charged with the crime of "abuse and torture".