Lady Gaga sued by accomplice in dog theft for withholding $500,000 reward money after returning dogs
Doorbell cam footage captured the robbery on Lady Gaga's French bulldogs. (Anonymous via Storyful/Getty)
Gaga's dogs were stolen during a robbery in February 2021, in which her assistant was shot in the chest. Two days later, McBride claimed she had found the dogs tied to a pole and requested Lady Gaga’s $500,000 reward offer. Los Angeles police discovered she was romantically involved with the father of one of the men involved in the robbery, and arrested them both as an accessory to attempted murder. She pleaded no contest to one count of receiving stolen property and was sentenced to two years of probation in December 2022, the LA Times reported.
LADY GAGA DOG THEFT SUSPECT RECAPTURED AFTER BEING MISTAKENLY FREED FROM JAIL
Despite her involvement, McBride's attorney argued in Friday's filing that because Gaga offered a $500,000 reward to whoever returned her dogs on a "no questions asked" basis, she "defrauded" McBride "by making a promise without intent to perform."
Celebrity Sightings In New York - May 12, 2015 NEW YORK, NY - MAY 12: Lady Gaga seen leaving her apartment with her dog Koji on May 12, 2015 in New York City. (MPI67/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
The lawsuit also reportedly claims that as a result of not receiving the reward money, McBride has sustained compensatory damages, pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life.
James Howard Jackson, one of three men who participated in the violent robbery, was sentenced to 21 years in prison, pleading no contest to one count of attempted murder after shooting Ryan Fischer during the robbery. Another suspect, Jaylin Keyshawn White, 20, has been sentenced to four years in state prison.
Fischer, who suffered from a collapsed lung from the shooting, said at Jackson's sentencing that the violent robbery has caused him a "loss of career, friendships" and "completely altered" his life.