{"id":187685,"date":"2023-10-05T12:07:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T12:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/?p=187685"},"modified":"2023-10-05T12:07:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T12:07:12","slug":"lady-gaga-wins-dognapping-reward-case-doesnt-have-to-pay-500000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/celebrities\/lady-gaga-wins-dognapping-reward-case-doesnt-have-to-pay-500000\/","title":{"rendered":"Lady Gaga wins dognapping reward case, doesn\u2019t have to pay $500,000"},"content":{"rendered":"
The case:<\/strong> Lady Gaga does not have to pay a $500,000 (\u00a3410,000) reward to a woman who returned her dogs after they were stolen in 2021, a US judge has ruled. Jennifer McBride previously sued the star for the \u201cno questions asked\u201d reward, plus $1.5m (\u00a31.2m) in damages. But the judge said Ms McBride couldn\u2019t claim the money because her role in returning the star\u2019s dogs had led to a conviction of receiving stolen goods. She argues she was just making sure the two bulldogs were returned safely. Ms McBride\u2019s lawyer said the singer and actress had committed a breach of contract and fraud by not paying up following their return. But in a ruling this week, Judge Holly J Fujie said Ms McBride was \u201cnot entitled to thereafter benefit from their wrongdoing by seeking to enforce the contract\u201d.<\/p>\n The crime:<\/strong> In February 2021, Ryan Fischer was walking Lady Gaga\u2019s three French bulldogs in Hollywood when he was shot in the chest in what the Los Angeles County District Attorney\u2019s Office called \u201ca cold-hearted violent act\u201d. He survived, but had to have part of his lung removed. Last December, James Howard Jackson was sentenced to 21 years in prison for attempted murder. Jackson and his accomplices took two of the dogs, Koji and Gustave, following the shooting. A third, Miss Asia, ran away and was later found by police. The two stolen dogs were returned unharmed by Ms McBride two days later after Gaga offered the reward.<\/p>\n The charge:<\/strong> Ms McBride was arrested along with four others in April 2021, and was charged with being an accessory to attempted murder. In December, she struck a plea deal to have that charge dropped, and pleaded no contest to receiving stolen property, for which she was sentenced to two years probation. She denied having been involved in the theft, saying she only took possession of Lady Gaga\u2019s pets \u201cfor the specific purpose of ensuring their protection and safely returning them\u201d. That\u2019s something the Grammy and Oscar-winner\u2019s lawyers argued \u201cmakes no sense\u201d. The judge has now upheld a previous ruling, saying Ms McBride cannot claim the reward because she \u201chas unclean hands that prevent her from profiting from her actions\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n [From BBC News]<\/p>\n \u201cBut your honor\u2026 I still returned the dogs. Give me my reward!\u201d<\/em> Ok, even if McBride maintains privately that she had nothing to do with the dognapping, and even if that is the truth (unlikely) then she only took the plea deal to get out of the accessory to murder charge. Even with all that, in the eyes of the law McBride pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property. That is what this judge was legally bound to refer to when rendering a decision. I don\u2019t think McBride thought this one through (nor do I think her lawyer did a good job advising her). That being said, it was never a good idea for Gaga to offer a \u201cno questions asked\u201d reward. Emotionally I understand how she made the decision and she is extra. Still, I expect someone of Gaga\u2019s net worth to have an army of people on retainer to help her think things through.<\/p>\n But what\u2019s important here is that Ryan Fischer survived (although holy crap I didn\u2019t know he had to have part of a lung removed), all of the dogs were safely returned, and those involved in the crime have been held accountable. And people the world over learned that Miss Asia don\u2019t play.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CLxVZAkMqxC\/<\/p>\n<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CxoKQPIyx5x\/<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Photos via Instagram and credit: INFphoto.com and TS, PacificCoastNews\/Avalon<\/small><\/p>\n
In 2021 Lady Gaga was in Rome filming House of Gucci<\/em> when her three French Bulldogs were dognapped \u2014 well, two of the three were taken. Miss Asia said \u201cf\u2014 this\u201d and ran away \u2014 and her dog walker Ryan Fischer was shot and in critical condition. Gaga put up a controversial \u201cno questions asked\u201d reward of $500k for the safe return of Koji and Gustave (that the LAPD was not happy about). Asia was recovered and the other Frenchies were returned. The woman who returned them, Jennifer McBride, ended up being arrested along with four other assailants. Not one to let a pesky little arrest get in the way of her payday, McBride sued Gaga to get the reward money. This week a judge ruled that no, Gaga does not have to pay McBride $500k for returning the dogs that she aided in stealing in the first place:<\/p>\n\n