Lady Gaga seeking to dismiss lawsuit calling for her to pay $500,000 reward sum following dog theft
Lady Gaga is trying to dismiss a lawsuit calling for her to pay a $500,000 reward for the return of her French bulldogs after they were stolen, claiming “conspiracy fraud” as the reason for refusal.
The 37-year-old pop star had two of her three dogs – Koji and Gustav – stolen in February 2021 during a late-night attack, in which her dog walker Ryan Fischer suffered serious injuries after she was shot and left for dead.
Desperate for her “family to be whole again,” Gaga, whose real name is Stefani J. Germanotta, tweeted at the time that she would pay $500,000 for the “safe return” of her stolen dogs.
That same day, a “mysterious woman” known as Jennifer McBride took the pets to the Los Angeles Police Department and they were later returned to Gaga.
In February of this year, McBride sued Gaga after she failed to receive the monetary reward when she returned the animals, because the artist made it “very clear” that “no questions would be asked.”
Fighting back: Lady Gaga is trying to dismiss a lawsuit calling for her to pay a $500,000 reward for the return of her French bulldogs after they were stolen, claiming ‘conspiracy fraud’ as the reason for refusal
However, in new documents obtained by CBS newsnow the world famous star is fighting back.
The documents read: “Prosecutor Jennifer McBride is trying to profit from her participation in a crime.
“The law does not allow anyone to commit a crime and then profit from it.”
Lawyers for Gaga said McBride claimed to have been a Good Samaritan who accidentally found the dogs in the street and had “no idea” they belonged to the Star is Born actress. the criminal enterprise’.
In December, McBride was sentenced to two years’ probation after pleading to knowingly receiving stolen property.
She has maintained that she performed her duty under the terms of the reward contract, but Gaga had no intention of paying it.
McBride is suing for breach of contract, fraud by false promise and fraud by misrepresentation.
She is also seeking legal fees and compensation for financial loss, pain, suffering, mental anguish and loss of joy in life, but Gaga’s lawyers argued that she suffered no damages in returning the dogs.
Traumatic: The 37-year-old pop star had two of her three dogs – Koji and Gustav – stolen in February 2021 during a late-night attack, which left her dog walker Ryan Fischer seriously injured after she was shot and left for dead
Cry for help: Desperate for her “family to be whole again,” Gaga, whose real name is Stefani J. Germanotta, tweeted at the time that she would pay $500,000 for the “safe return” of her stolen dogs
Horrific: Fischer suffered a collapsed lung and eventually lost pieces of the organ as a result of the shooting
A hearing on the motion to dismiss is scheduled for July 10.
McBride originally returned the dogs to the American Horror Story actress at the LAPD Olympic Community station two days after they were taken.
She was later charged with receiving stolen property in connection with the links.
The woman was later also charged with complicity in the crime.
McBride was reportedly in a relationship with the father of one of the men responsible for the crime.
The man who shot Fischer, James Howard Jackson, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to 21 years in prison.
Jackson and others drove through Hollywood on Feb. 24, 2021, “looking for French bulldogs,” prosecutors previously said. They found Lady Gaga’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, 41, with the pop star’s three pets named Asia, Koji and Gustav.
Jackson shot Fischer during the robbery near Sunset Boulevard, taking two of the dogs. A nearby doorbell camera caught the dog walker yelling “Oh, my God! I’ve been shot!’ and ‘Help me!’ and “I’m bleeding from my chest!”
Fischer lost part of a lung. About a month after the crime, he posted on Instagram that his recovery is going well.
The Just Dance singer originally shared an Instagram post expressing her heartbreak, as well as information about the reward after the theft.
She wrote, “My heart is sick and I pray my family will be whole again with an act of kindness. I will pay $500,000 for their safe return.”
Pups: The woman, Jennifer McBride, claimed she did not receive the $500,000 reward despite being part of the theft herself
One of the family: Gaga posted on her social media about the reward, saying “no more questions would be asked” once the dogs returned
Gaga also said, “Or, if you bought or found them unknowingly, the reward is the same.”
“I love you forever Ryan Fischer, you risked your life to fight for our family. You are forever a hero.’
Gaga adopted Gustav in 2016 and celebrated the addition to her “family” in an Instagram post.
“I’m proud to announce that we have added a new member to the #JOANNE family,” she wrote, adding that she was still deciding on his name. “I haven’t given him a name yet, but I’m calling him both cow pig and moopig in the meantime!”
The singer got Koji as a puppy the year before in April 2015 and Miss Asia has been with Gaga since March 2014.
Miss Asia is a celebrity in her own right and has over 220,000 followers on social media. She previously appeared in several magazines, featured in several ad campaigns, and was the inspiration for Lady Gaga’s pet product line in 2015.