Lady Gaga shouldn’t have to pay $500,000 reward in kidnapping incident, judge rules

Lady Gaga won’t have to pay Jennifer McBride, one of five people involved in the theft of the singer’s dogs, after a Los Angeles judge ruled in the pop star’s favor on Monday.

In February, the “Paparazzi” singer, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, was sued for failing to pay McBride a $500,000 fee.

Court documents obtained by People revealed that Judge Holly J. Fujii said the lawsuit was “generally legally flawed” as a result of McBride’s “involvement in the theft,” despite Gaga’s public offer to reward those who returned her dogs, noting that McBride did not admit her refusal. contest.

Monday’s decision reportedly followed Fujii giving McBride, who has maintained she was “in no way involved in the theft,” 20 days to amend her claim. The 53-year-old initially sued Gaga for $500,000 she claimed she was owed, as well as $1.5 million in additional damages.

Gaga’s two French bulldogs, Koji and Gustavo, were stolen in an incident in February 2021 in which her dog walker Ryan Fisher was shot in the chest. Fisher survived, but five people were arrested, including McBride, who decided to return the dogs in hopes of a reward.

McBride, who left the dogs at the Los Angeles Police Department’s Olympic Community Station on Feb. 26, 2021, said in the lawsuit that Gaga’s refusal to pay caused pain, suffering, mental anguish — and loss of enjoyment of life.

In her lawsuit, obtained by BuzzFeed News, McBride claimed that Gaga “deceived” her by “making a promise with no intention of keeping.”

McBride was charged with one count of receiving stolen property and sentenced to two years probation, The Los Angeles Times reported.

A judge ruled Monday that Gaga’s dog thief’s lawsuit has “no merit.”

McBride was reportedly dating fellow accomplice Harold White, whose son Jaylin was also involved in the robbery and shooting. The others, James Howard Jackson and Lafayette Whaley, were charged with attempted murder and second-degree robbery, respectively.

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Jackson pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to 21 years in prison in December. Lesser charges were dropped against him, including conspiracy to commit robbery, second-degree robbery, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and being a concealed felon while carrying a firearm in a vehicle.

“I forgive you,” Fisher reportedly said during Jackson’s sentencing. “You completely changed my life with your attack. I know that I cannot completely forget the night you shot me until I said those words to you.

Gaga recently wrapped filming on Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to the surprise 2019 comic book blockbuster. In April, President Joe Biden named her co-chair of the revived Arts and Humanities Committee.

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