A Los Angeles judge has ruled that Lady Gaga will not have to pay the $500,000 USD reward to the woman who returned her stolen French bulldogs — and was convicted of being knowingly involved in their theft, which almost killed the pop star's dog walker, Ryan Fischer — in 2021, Rolling Stone reports.
Angela McBride sued Gaga for the reward, plus $1.5 million in damages, citing the promise of "no questions asked." The complainant failed to remedy her lawsuit after the court dismissed the case in July because McBride was seemingly attempting to "benefit from her admitted wrongdoing."
Having pleaded "no contest" to receiving the stolen dogs, McBride is serving two years of felony probation. She had claimed in her suit that she was "in no way involved in the theft of Lady Gaga's bulldogs and had no knowledge of said theft or its planning before its occurrence" and that she only "took possession of (Gaga's) bulldogs for the specific purpose of ensuring their protection and safely returning them."
Judge Holly J. Fujie ruled that McBride had "unclean hands" for trying to collect the reward ahead of being prosecuted. The promise of "no questions asked" is void, as per the judge: "a party to a contract who acts wrongfully in entering or performing the contract is not entitled to thereafter benefit from their wrongdoing by seeking to enforce the contract."
Gaga's lawyers pointed to McBride's admission in her filings that she learned about the $500K reward from news articles published by TMZ, Variety, CNN and Today on February 25, 2021 — the day after the dogs were taken on a street in Hollywood and Fischer was strangled, beaten, shot in the chest and left for dead. All of these articles had led with the fact that the pop star's dogs had been stolen, they argued.
"Plaintiff alleges in the (first amended complaint) that she was 'in no way involved' in the theft of (Lady Gaga's) dogs and 'had no knowledge of said theft or its planning before its occurrence,'" the judge wrote in her ruling. "Notably, she never alleges that she was unaware that the bulldogs had been stolen after they were stolen or at the time that she received them."
Last year, the man who shot Fischer was sentenced to 21 years in prison, and another of the dognappers was sentenced to four years in prison for his involvement.
Angela McBride sued Gaga for the reward, plus $1.5 million in damages, citing the promise of "no questions asked." The complainant failed to remedy her lawsuit after the court dismissed the case in July because McBride was seemingly attempting to "benefit from her admitted wrongdoing."
Having pleaded "no contest" to receiving the stolen dogs, McBride is serving two years of felony probation. She had claimed in her suit that she was "in no way involved in the theft of Lady Gaga's bulldogs and had no knowledge of said theft or its planning before its occurrence" and that she only "took possession of (Gaga's) bulldogs for the specific purpose of ensuring their protection and safely returning them."
Judge Holly J. Fujie ruled that McBride had "unclean hands" for trying to collect the reward ahead of being prosecuted. The promise of "no questions asked" is void, as per the judge: "a party to a contract who acts wrongfully in entering or performing the contract is not entitled to thereafter benefit from their wrongdoing by seeking to enforce the contract."
Gaga's lawyers pointed to McBride's admission in her filings that she learned about the $500K reward from news articles published by TMZ, Variety, CNN and Today on February 25, 2021 — the day after the dogs were taken on a street in Hollywood and Fischer was strangled, beaten, shot in the chest and left for dead. All of these articles had led with the fact that the pop star's dogs had been stolen, they argued.
"Plaintiff alleges in the (first amended complaint) that she was 'in no way involved' in the theft of (Lady Gaga's) dogs and 'had no knowledge of said theft or its planning before its occurrence,'" the judge wrote in her ruling. "Notably, she never alleges that she was unaware that the bulldogs had been stolen after they were stolen or at the time that she received them."
Last year, the man who shot Fischer was sentenced to 21 years in prison, and another of the dognappers was sentenced to four years in prison for his involvement.
