03/10/2023
03/10/2023
NEW YORK, Oct 3, (Agencies): Lady Gaga is officially relieved of any obligation to Jennifer McBride. A Los Angeles judge has once again affirmed that the singer and actress, aged 37, is not required to grant McBride, who was involved in the February 2021 dog-napping of Gaga's beloved pets Koji and Gustav, the $500,000 reward offered at the time, as stated in court documents.
Jennifer McBride, aged 53, had previously initiated a lawsuit against Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, in February, seeking a reward and an additional $1.5 million in damages. In July, McBride's legal representative argued that Gaga had breached the contract, committed fraud by false promise, and fraud by misrepresentation by not paying out the reward after offering it without any questions asked.
Nonetheless, Judge Holly J. Fujie, in her court order, deemed McBride's complaint "legally insufficient in its entirety." This decision was based on McBride's involvement in the theft and the fact that she had been indicted and pleaded no contest to charges of receiving stolen property in 2022. Therefore, the judge concluded that McBride was "not entitled to thereafter benefit from their wrongdoing by seeking to enforce the contract."
This final ruling by Judge Fujie on Monday comes after McBride was given a 20-day window to amend her filing. In her amended documents, she claimed she had no involvement in the theft and had merely taken possession of the dogs to return them. Gaga's legal team argued that this assertion "makes no sense." The court's latest findings state that nothing in the amended complaint changes the initial conclusion. Consequently, Judge Fujie will not permit another revised complaint, and the case is now closed.