Lady Gaga will not have to pay the $500,000 reward in the 2021 dognapping of her three pooches, despite one of the people charged for the crime suing her for not doing so, a judge ruled Monday.
Jennifer McBride will not get any of $500,000 reward money she sought after Judge Holly J. Fujie ruled that her lawsuit against Lady Gaga — whose real name is Stefani Germanotta — was “legally insufficient in its entirety” due to the fact that McBride played a role in stealing the canines, per reports.
The theft took place on Feb. 24, 2021. Ryan Fischer was walking Gaga’s three dogs Asia, Koji and Gustav when a Nissan Altima pulled up beside him. Two people jumped out, surrounded Fischer and demanded he turn over the dogs. A struggle ensued and one of the assailants shot Fischer in the chest before grabbing two of the three dogs and fleeing the scene.
The pop superstar then released a “no questions asked” reward offer of $500,000 if the two pups were returned.
McBride returned the dogs a few days later, claiming she found them tied to a pole. Authorities later connected McBride to the dognapping, and she charged with one count of receiving stolen property and one count of being an accessory to the crime, to which she pleaded not contest to. She was convicted and sentenced to two years of probation in December 2022.
In February 2023, McBride sued Gaga for the reward and an additional $1.5 million in additional damages. In July, McBride’s legal team claimed Gaga was responsible for breach of contract, fraud by false promise and fraud by misrepresentation after Gaga stated she’d provide the “no questions asked” reward of $500,000 and never paid it.
However, Fujie pointed out since McBride was indicted and pleaded no contest to charges of receiving stolen property in 2022, she was “not entitled to thereafter benefit from their wrongdoing by seeking to enforce the contract.”
Following the attack, Fischer was listed in critical condition and later recalled cradling the remaining dog while lying in a pool of blood. James Howard Jackson, the man who shot Fischer, was sentenced to 21 years in state prison.
