Lady Gaga arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Lady Gaga is striking back against the woman who says she’s owed reward money for returning the superstar’s stolen dogs — despite having been convicted of being part of the plot to steal the dogs in the first place.
Jennifer McBride sued Lady Gaga — real name Stefani Germanotta — in February, demanding that the singer pay the $500,000 in reward money she promised following the violent theft of two of her three dogs in February 2021. McBride was the one who brought the dogs to the Los Angeles Police Department the same day Lady Gaga tweeted that she would pay $500,000 for the safe return of the two pups.
My beloved dogs Koji and Gustav were taken in Hollywood two nights ago. 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. Email [email protected] to contact us. pic.twitter.com/3NY9u7Mw2K
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) February 26, 2021
At the time, McBride, who was reportedly in a relationship with the father of one of the men involved in the robbery, told police that she happened upon the dogs by chance and that she didn’t know who the owner was. That story fell apart under LAPD scrutiny; in truth, McBride was part of the plot to steal the little dogs — although it does appear that the perpetrators didn’t know who the dogs belonged to, only that French Bulldogs had a high resale value — and she was ultimately convicted of a felony for knowingly receiving stolen property and sentenced to two years of probation.
On Friday, Lady Gaga filed a demurrer, a type of motion that challenges the legal basis of a lawsuit, functioning essentially as a motion to dismiss. She argues that McBride, whose lawsuit alleged breach of contract and fraud, isn’t actually entitled to the reward money despite, as McBride said, Lady Gaga’s promise that there would be “no questions asked” upon the safe return of her dogs.
“The law does not allow a person to commit a crime and then profit from it,” says the filing from Lady Gaga’s lawyer Greta Williams.
The motion says that McBride’s claims of breach of contract and fraud are “fundamentally” flawed because McBride “knew that [Lady Gaga’s] dogs were stolen before she purported to ‘find’ and ‘return’ them.”
The singer counters McBride’s breach of contract claim by saying that no contract was actually formed.
“[T]here was no mutual assent of the parties,” the filing says, noting that McBride “disclaimed any intention of accepting” the reward money.
“In filings before this Court, Plaintiff declared that she ‘never sought’ to collect a reward,” the filing says (citations omitted). “This repudiation is fatal to her contract claim.” The filing cites California law, which requires that if a person wants to seek a reward like the one offered by Lady Gaga, they must have done the underlying acts — such as returning the dogs — “with the intention of claiming the reward in the event of [their] accomplishing what would entitle [them] to it.”
Lady Gaga also cites longstanding California law that has held that “no one can take advantage of [her] own wrong.”
“Plaintiff was convicted for her participation in the conspiracy to steal Defendant’s dogs, so she cannot now recover under a purported contract for the return of those same stolen dogs,” the filing says.
The filing also argues that McBride failed to establish that she suffered any damage by returning Lady Gaga’s dogs, “which did not belong to [McBride] and which she knew to be stolen.”
Lady Gaga’s dog walker Ryan Fischer was shot in the chest and beaten by three assailants during the robbery; he was injured but survived. Two days after the robbery, Lady Gaga tweeted that she would pay $500,000 for the safe return of the three pups; that same day, McBride brought the dogs to a Los Angeles Police Department station. She initially claimed that she had happened upon the dogs by chance and had “no idea” who their owner was, but that story fell apart under LAPD scrutiny.
James Howard Jackson and two accomplices, Jaylin Keyshown White and Lafayette Shon Whaley, were charged with the assault and robbery. Jackson pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder and was sentenced to 21 years in prison in December.
According to the filing, a court hearing on the lawsuit is set in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 10.
Read Lady Gaga’s motion, below.
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