A judge has ruled that Lady Gaga owes no reward to the woman accused of stealing her dogs.
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According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Judge Holly J. Fujie issued her decision on Monday (July 10, 23) dismissing a lawsuit filed by Jennifer McBride. The latter had made a plea of no contest in December (22) for receiving stolen property in connection with the 2021 armed robbery, in which the singer’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was shot on it and was nearly killed.
In her breach of contract claim, Jennifer McBride argued that Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, had offered a $500,000 reward “no questions asked” to whoever returned her two French bulldogs. Jennifer McBride said that despite being charged with stealing the dogs, she should receive the reward for returning them.
While she claimed the reward offer was “one-sided,” meaning the star would pay regardless of the circumstances, the judge ruled she shouldn’t “take advantage of her participation in a crime “.
In February 2021, Lady Gaga’s two French bulldogs, Koji and Gustav, were kidnapped while on a walk. Five people were later charged, including the complainant, Jennifer McBride, and the man who shot the dog walker, James Howard Jackson.
A few days after he attacked the dog walker, Lady Gaga offered a reward to anyone who returned her dogs. Jennifer McBride referred Koji and Gustav to the police and asked about the reward, saying she found them tied to a post. Police initially told the media that she appeared to be “uninvolved and unassociated” with the crime, but later accused her of receiving stolen property and being an accomplice. She was sentenced to two years on parole. James Howard Jackson, meanwhile, reached an agreement in December and was sentenced to 21 years in prison for shooting the dog walker.