Lady Gaga can breathe a sigh of relief. You don’t owe Jennifer McBride anything. A judge in Los Angeles, California, has ruled that the 37-year-old singer and actress will not pay a $500,000 (477,000 euros) reward to McBride, an accomplice in the February 2021 kidnapping of her two dogs, Koji and Gustavto must They have been returned, according to court documents accessed by People magazine. McBride was arrested in April 2021 along with five other people for plotting to kidnap the dogs and to shoot and critically injure the artist’s handler, Ryan Fischer. McBride and the others involved wanted to make a profit by selling the pets on the black market. Additionally, McBride filed the lawsuit in February last year and sought $1.5 million in additional damages, ruling that Lady Gaga had committed “breach of contract, fraud by false promise and fraud by misrepresentation.”
It was Judge Holly J. Fujie presiding over the case who concluded in the summary that McBride’s complaint was “legally insufficient in its entirety” because he was involved in the robbery and also had “no right to be free from his wrongdoing.” to benefit.” . ” in an attempt to enforce the contract.” The final order of the judge was announced this Monday, October 2nd, after the expiration of the 20 days that the plaintiff needed to change her statement. According to McBride, she was “in no way involved in the theft” and merely “took possession of the dogs to return them.” Lady Gaga’s legal team argued that her words “made no sense.” The court ultimately concluded that “nothing alleged by the defendant alters the final judgment” and that it will not allow McBride to seek further appeal, thus closing the proceedings.
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At the time of the attempted robbery, McBride was in a relationship with his accomplice, Harold White. His son Jaylin (White) was one of the active participants in the robbery and shooting – along with his companions James Jackson and Lafayette Whaley. One of the Los Angeles Police Department’s first press releases said the pair were “determined to be accomplices.” Shortly afterwards they were arrested for attempted murder, for which they were not convicted.
James Jackson was the one who shot Fischer, Lady Gaga’s trusted handler. The attacker claimed he pleaded no contest to the attempted murder, in which the victim suffered serious physical injuries, and was sentenced to 21 years in prison in December 2022. As a result of his plea deal, he was charged with lesser charges including conspiracy to commit robbery and second-degree larceny, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and felon carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.
Lady Gaga walks with her dogs in New York in February 2016Michael Stewart (GC Images)
Fischer, who suffered a pulmonary embolism in the shooting and stayed with the American singer during her recovery, made a statement as Jackson appeared in court. He explained that he had run into debt since the shooting and told Jackson, “I forgive you. With the attack you completely changed my life. “I know that until I say these words to you, I won’t be able to fully get over the night you shot me.” As for the dogs, he added: “They have been returned to their mother. “I don’t think I could have lived with myself if they had died.”