LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles County judge ruled Monday that singer Lady Gaga does not have to pay out the $500,000 reward she promised for the safe return of her French bulldogs following a dog-napping incident in 2021.
The judge’s decision found that Jennifer McBride, one of the suspects in the 2021 incident in which Gaga’s handler was injured by a gunshot, had “unclean hands” and that McBride was therefore “not entitled” to the reward money.
“Although Plaintiff alleges that her motivation was to protect the Bulldogs (and also collect $500,000.00), this alleged motivation does not negate her guilt on the charge because she admitted knowing that she was preserving the Bulldogs “that it was stolen property,” the ruling states.
After being formally charged in the dog-snapping case in April 2021, McBride filed a lawsuit against Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, in 2022, claiming the singer had violated a contract that stated the reward money would be paid out, without any questions being asked about the return of their dogs.
Fraud by false promise and fraud by misrepresentation were also listed in the lawsuit as basis for damages.
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According to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, McBride is currently on probation after pleading guilty to receiving stolen property valued at more than $950.
She was initially charged with accessory after the fact and obtaining stolen property, but the accessory after the fact charge was simultaneously dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
CNN has reached out to both McBride and Gaga’s lawyers for comment.