Highlights

• Lady Gaga is not required to pay a $500,000 reward in the dognapping case, according to a judge's ruling.
• The dognapping occurred in February 2021 when Lady Gaga's dog walker was shot and injured by assailants targeting her beloved pets.
• Jennifer McBride, who returned Lady Gaga's stolen dogs, sued Gaga for the promised reward but the lawsuit was dismissed by a judge in July 2023.

Lady Gaga won't have to pay a $500,000 reward in a "dognapping" case, a Los Angeles judge ruled on October 3rd.

Lady Gaga (whose real name is Stefani Germanotta) was on tour in February 2021, and left her two French bulldogs with dogsitter Ryan Fischer. On February 24th of that year, Fischer was shot and injured by "dognappers" targeting the singer's beloved pets.

In February 2021, TheRichest.com noted that Fischer's condition was upgraded from "critical to stable," and reported:

"At the time of the incident, Lady Gaga's very good friend, and long-time dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was walking [three] dogs through the affluent neighborhood of North Sierra Bonita Avenue in Los Angeles. This attack was completely unprovoked, and by all accounts, it seems the dog-nappers strategically targeted Fischer in an attempt to ransom Lady Gaga's dogs for money. One of her three dogs escaped and was later recovered."

A Look Inside Lady Gaga's Multi-Million-Dollar Real Estate Portfolio

As is often the case with high profile celebrity incidents, fallout from the dognapping has been ongoing. By April 2021, NPR reported that five individuals in total had been charged in relation to a scheme to kidnap Lady Gaga's dogs – and the outlet recapped some of the aftermath:

"The arrests were made on [April 27th 2021], nearly two months to the day after the singer's dog walker was shot by assailants who demanded he hand over her three French bulldogs and eventually fled the scene with two of them. The dog walker is recovering from critical injuries, and the dogs were returned to authorities two days later by a woman who said she had found them, though police would not specify where ... The suspects range in age from 18 to 50 years old, and all appear to be connected to each other. Four of them are documented gang members in Los Angeles, according to police."

In December 2022, the man arrested and charged in the shooting of Fischer was sentenced to 21 years in prison. In that reporting, NPR mentioned the $500,000 reward and the woman who later returned Lady Gaga's dogs:

"The stolen dogs were returned several days later by Jennifer McBride, who was also charged in the crime ... The pop star had offered a $500,000 reward — 'no questions asked' — to be reunited with the dogs at the time."

Again, the December 2022 sentencing did not mark the end of Lady Gaga's dognapping ordeal. In February, TheRichest.com addressed a lawsuit filed by McBride against Lady Gaga, and explained:

"Lady Gaga is facing a new lawsuit filed by the woman who returned her dogs in 2021 after they were stolen. The woman, Jennifer McBride, claims that the singer hasn’t paid her the $500,000 reward that was promised, which may be because she was eventually charged in connection to the original robbery ... Not only is [McBride] looking for the original reward, but also compensation for mental anguish and loss of enjoyment as a result of the situation, totalling $1.5 million."

The 8 Most Expensive Brand Endorsements Of Lady Gaga

On March 1st, Sky News reported that McBride pled "no contest to receiving stolen property in connection with the theft, also in December" 2022, adding:

"McBride claims she was entitled to the reward money after delivering the dogs to a Los Angeles police station two days after they were taken. The lawsuit alleges Lady Gaga never intended to pay the 'no questions asked' reward money - instead, she was questioned by police about the return of the bulldogs."

In July, Los Angeles Judge Holly J. Fujie dismissed McBride's "breach of contract" suit against Gaga – which sought a total of $2 million in damages for the $500,000 reward, and "pain and suffering" damages amounting to $1.5 million. Billboard.com explained:

"A Los Angeles judge says Lady Gaga is not obligated to pay out on a $500,000 'no questions asked' reward for the return of her stolen French bulldogs — at least not to a woman who was criminally charged over the violent 2021 incident ... In a ruling [in July 2023], Judge Holly J. Fujie dismissed a breach of contract lawsuit filed by Jennifer McBride, who pleaded no contest in December [2022] to receiving stolen property in connection with the gunpoint robbery in which Gaga’s dog walker Ryan Fischer was shot and nearly killed."

Finally, on October 2nd, Lady Gaga learned she "officially" was off the hook with respect to the $500,000 reward. Entertainment Weekly noted that McBride was granted permission to amend her complaint in July, before the suit was definitively dismissed.

Judge Fujie ultimately ruled in favor of Lady Gaga dognapping reward lawsuit, reiterating her earlier conclusion that McBride was "not entitled to thereafter benefit from their wrongdoing by seeking to enforce the contract."

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEq6CcoJWowW%2BvzqZmpZmUrnqorcaaZLCnnql6sa3YZmxpaJtisbCzzZqnqaGenHw%3D