Lady Gaga Doesn’t Have to Pay $500,000 to a Dognapper Who Returned Her French Bulldogs

Pet parents would pay a lot of money for the return of their lost furry friends—just ask Lady Gaga.

Back in February 2021, thieves stole two of the singer’s three French bulldogs at gunpoint, and she offered a $500,000 reward for the safe return of her pets. The pups were soon brought back, but Lady Gaga won’t have to splash out that cash, after all. A judge has found that the woman who returned the dogs is not entitled to the money, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. That’s partly because the woman was associated with the very same people who took the animals in the first place.

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“No one can take advantage of his own wrong,” Judge Holly J. Fujie wrote in a ruling notice, according to the Post. “A plaintiff must come into court with clean hands, and keep them clean, or be denied relief, regardless of the merits of the claim.”

The plaintiff, Jennifer McBride, apparently knew the father of one of the suspects in the dognapping case. Footage showed her taking the dogs shortly after someone had tied them to a streetlight, The Washington Post wrote, and in December she was convicted of receiving stolen property, with a sentence of two years’ probation.

Still, McBride felt that she should receive the reward that Lady Gaga had initially outlined on social media. So she sued the pop star in February for breach of contract and fraud, claiming she believed the money would be paid “no questions asked” upon the return of the pets. She also said she only had the dogs so she could return them safely to Lady Gaga and receive the reward.

Now, though, the L.A. courts have decided that Lady Gaga has no legal obligation to provide the reward to McBride nor give any money for alleged damages or emotional distress. The singer has yet to comment on the decision, but she did commend her dog walker, Ryan Fischer, in the aftermath of the dognapping. (During the incident, Fischer was shot and seriously injured.)

“I continue to love you Ryan Fischer, you risked your life to fight for our family,” she wrote on social media. “You’re forever a hero.”

She’s likely thankful for the judge’s decision in this case, too.

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