Lady Gaga ‘moves to dismiss lawsuit calling for payment of $500,000 reward sum following the theft of her French bulldogs’… as singer claims ‘conspiracy fraud’
Lady Gaga is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit which is calling for her to pay a $500,000 reward sum for the return of her French bulldogs after they were stolen, claiming ‘conspiracy fraud’ as grounds for refusal.
The pop star, 37, had two of her three dogs – Koji and Gustav – stolen in February 2021 during a late-night attack, with her dog walker Ryan Fischer suffering serious injuries after being 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 ‘mystery woman’, known as Jennifer McBride brought the pets to the Los Angeles Police Department and they were later given back to Gaga.
In February this year, McBride sued Gaga after not receiving the cash reward when she returned the animals, alleging the artist made it ‘very clear’ there would be ‘no questions asked.’
Fighting back: Lady Gaga is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit which is calling for her to pay a $500,000 reward sum for the return of her French bulldogs after they were stolen, claiming ‘conspiracy fraud’ as grounds for refusal
However, in new documents obtained by CBS News, the world-famous star is now fighting back.
Documents state: ‘Plaintiff Jennifer McBride seeks to profit from her participation in a crime.
‘The law does not allow a person to commit a crime and then profit from it.’
Attorneys for Gaga said McBride claimed to have been a good Samaritan who found the dogs on the street by chance and had ‘no idea’ they belonged to the Star is Born actress, but they argued she was in fact a ‘direct and knowing participant in the criminal enterprise’.
In December, McBride was sentenced to two years of probation after pleading no contest to knowingly receiving stolen property.
She has maintained that she exercised 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 damages, pain, suffering, mental anguish, as well as loss of enjoyment of life, but Gaga’s lawyers argued she has not suffered any damages in returning the dogs.
Traumatic: The pop star, 37, had two of her three dogs – Koji and Gustav – stolen in February 2021 during a late-night attack, with her dog walker Ryan Fischer suffering serious injuries after being shot and left for dead
Call 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 ended up losing pieces of the organ as a result of the shooting
A hearing on the motion to dismiss has been scheduled for 10 July.
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 to the left.
The woman was also charged with being an accessory to the crime after the fact.
Allegedly, McBride was dating the father of one of the men responsible for the crime.
The man who shot Fischer, James Howard Jackson, pled no contest to a count of attempted murder and was given 21 years in prison.
Jackson and others drove around Hollywood on Feb. 24, 2021 ‘looking for French bulldogs,’ prosecutors said previously. 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, during which two of the dogs were taken. A nearby doorbell camera recorded the dog walker screaming ‘Oh, my God! I´ve been shot!’ and ‘Help me!’ and ‘I´m bleeding out from my chest!’
Fischer lost part of a lung. About a month after the crime, he posted on Instagram that his recovering has gone well.
The Just Dance singer originally shared an Instagram post where she expressed her heartache as well as information about the reward after the theft.
She wrote: ‘My heart is sick and I am praying 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 that she did not receive the $500K reward, despite being a part of the theft itself
One of the family: Gaga posted on her social media about the reward and said there would be ‘no questions asked’ once the dogs were returned
Gaga also said: ‘Or, if you bought or found them unknowingly, the reward is the same.
‘I continue to love you Ryan Fischer, you risked your life to fight for our family. You’re forever a hero.’
Gaga adopted Gustav in 2016, and celebrated the addition to her ‘family’ in an Instagram post.
‘I’m proud to announce we added a new member to the #JOANNE family,’ she wrote, adding that she was still deciding on his name. ‘I haven’t named him yet but I call him both cowpig and moopig in the meantime!’
The singer got Koji as a puppy the year prior in April 2015, and Miss Asia has been with Gaga since March 2014.
A celebrity in her own right, Miss Asia boasts a social media following of more than 220,000. She has previously appeared in several magazines, featured in several ad campaigns and, in 2015, was the inspiration between Lady Gaga’s pet product line.
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