Lady Gaga can breathe a sigh of relief after a woman allegedly connected to the theft of her beloved French Bulldogs and the brutal shooting of her dog walker had a lawsuit over the reward for the dogs tossed out of court.
Jennifer McBride had been suing Gaga, 37, over the singer’s $500,000 reward for the return of her two stolen Frenchies, which she had refused to pay after McBride turned them in.
That’s because the woman, who initially claimed to have merely found the dogs tied up after the theft and assault, later pleaded no contest to a charge of receiving stolen property, leading to a two-year probation sentence.
McBride was also dating the father of one of the two men who stole the dogs, raising suspicions that she was intimately aware of the criminal scheme.
According to document obtained by TMZ, it was that conviction that led the judge to dismiss McBride’s lawsuit for the unearned reward money.
Tossed: A lawsuit filed against Lady Gaga, 36, by the woman who returned her two stolen French Bulldogs was thrown out by a judge, according to documents obtained by TMZ
Culpable: The judge dismissed Jennifer McBride’s suit over Gaga’s unpaid $500,000 reward because McBride pleaded no contest to a charge that she was aware of the theft of the dogs and the assault of Gaga’s dog walker
In his ruling, the judge wrote that allowing the lawsuit to proceed ‘would allow [McBride] to benefit from her admitted wrongdoing.’
The suit hasn’t been dismissed with prejudice — meaning it cannot be refiled — just yet, and the judge is giving McBride 20 days to amend the suit, though it seems unlikely that she could get around the issue of her conviction related to the matter.
When she launched the lawsuit in February 2023, McBride said she was owed the money because Gaga had offered the reward with ‘no questions asked.’
Gaga had announced the $500,000 almost exactly two years earlier after two of her Frenchies were stolen.
In addition to requesting the full reward, McBride also wanted to court to triple the damages for a total of $1.5 million, as she claimed that Gaga’s reward offer was misleading.
LA County Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee previously told TMZ that McBride was aware the dogs had been stolen when she turned them in for the reward at the LAPD Olympic Community station just two days after they were stolen.
Gaga’s dog walker Ryan Fischier was taking three of her French Bulldogs for a stroll when two men — James Howard Jackson and Jaylin White — jumped out of a car and stole two of the dogs, while a third ran away and was later recovered.
During the assault, in which the two men choked Fischier, Jackson hit him with a semiautomatic handgun and then shot him once.
Fischier was left bleeding on the sidewalk before emergency responders rushed him to a hospital, where he had surgery to remove portions of his lungs damaged by the gunshot.
Tenuous logic: Despite pleading no contest, McBride claimed she was still owed the money (and even more than the original reward) because Gaga said there would be ‘no questions asked’
Shocking attack: Gaga’s dog walker Ryan Fischier had three of Gaga’s Frenchies on a walk in February 2021 when two men assaulted him and stole two, before shooting him in the chest
Survivor: Fischier survived after having part of his lungs removed, and Gaga paid his nearly $100,000 hospital bills. The culprits were apprehended and sentenced to prison
Gaga committed in February 2021 to paying all of his hospital bills, which totaled nearly $100,000, and he also said she brought in counselors to help him move on from the near-death ordeal.
Jackson accepted a plea deal for the shooting and was sentenced to 21 years in prison, while White pleaded no contest and was sentenced to four years on lesser charges.
Lafayette Whaley, who was accused of driving them two men around to find dogs to steal, also pleaded no contest to an accomplice charge and was sentenced to six years in prison.
McBride had been dating White’s father, and both were accused of trying to help him evade capture. They were each charged as accessories after the fact, and the senior White was additionally hit with a gun possession charge, according to CBS.
