Lady Gaga has been sued by Jennifer McBride for not honoring her offer to reward the money she promised when her dognapped bulldogs were returned.
The compensation for returning the bulldogs was supposedly a “no-questions-asked” $500,000 reward money but that offer has not been honored according to a complaint filed Friday.
McBride pleaded no contest in December to receiving stolen property in connection with the theft. Now, she’s accusing Lady Gaga of breach of contract, fraud by false promise, and fraud by misrepresentation for not paying the reward money.
McBride is seeking no less than $1.5 million in damages and unspecified general damages in the eight-page complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
McBride alleges Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, announced the half-million-dollar reward through the news media and on her social media accounts.
McBride claims VS Lady Gaga
McBride believes she deserves the reward for returning Lady Gaga’s stolen dogs to the LAPD Olympic Community Station two days after their theft. She has filed a lawsuit, alleging that Lady Gaga never intended to honor the “no questions asked” reward offer, instead having law enforcement interrogate McBride about the dogs’ return.
McBride claims this caused her emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life. Although McBride had originally been charged with receiving stolen property and being an accessory after the fact, she pleaded no contest in December. Any compensation resulting from the lawsuit would be considered restitution for Lady Gaga, who was the victim of a crime along with her injured dog walker.
“It was clear from the evidence presented to the grand jury that Ms. McBride knew the dogs have been stolen in a violent robbery in which Ryan Fischer had been grievously injured.
It was also clear from the evidence that McBride had known at least two of her co-conspirators for years.”
“If Lady Gaga suffers a financial loss by paying that reward, she will qualify as a victim of a crime under California law, and the people will be obligated by law to seek restitution in court for that loss froeveryry defendant in the case,” Hanisse explained.
Hanisee added that if Lady Gaga had not come forward publicly acknowledging the dogs were hers and offering a reward, “the dogs would likely have ended up in a breeding mill.”
She noted that “McBride is still on formal probation” and “still under the jurisdiction of the court.”
Harvey Weinstein: 16 more years in prison but still claiming innocence
