A judge has ruled that the woman who helped steal Lady Gaga’s dogs cannot collect the $500,000 reward money for which she attempted to sue the singer.
A woman’s attempt to sue Lady Gaga over reward money for the singer’s dogs she helped steal has been rejected by a Los Angeles judge. Judge Holly J. Fujie found that Jennifer McBride’s involvement in the February 2021 violent theft of two of Lady Gaga’s three dogs precluded her from collecting the “no questions asked” reward.
Allowing McBride to pursue the lawsuit “would allow her to benefit from her admitted wrongdoing,” the court order reads.
McBride brought the dogs to the Los Angeles Police Department two days after they were stolen from dog walker Ryan Fischer, who was shot in the chest and assaulted by three individuals during the robbery. Fischer was injured but ultimately survived. Two days after the incident, Lady Gaga tweeted that she would pay $500,000 for the safe return of the two dogs, “no questions asked.”
At the time of the theft, McBride was reportedly in a relationship with the father of one of the men involved in the robbery. She told police that she had happened upon the dogs by chance and didn’t know who owned them.
But her story fell apart under police scrutiny — McBride was part of the plot to steal the dogs, although the perpetrators allegedly didn’t know who owned them, only that French bulldogs had a high resale value. McBride was convicted of a felony for knowingly receiving stolen property and sentenced to two years of probation.
Then, in July 2022, McBride sued Lady Gaga, insisting that she was owed the promised reward money.
“The law does not allow a person to commit a crime and then profit from it,” wrote Lady Gaga’s lawyer Greta Williams in response to McBride’s filing.
Following the judge’s ruling, McBride reportedly has 20 days to amend her complaint.