Judge rules that Lady Gaga does not have to give reward to dognapper for “finding” stolen bulldogs

In 2021, Lady Gaga’s dog walker was shot (he lived) and her two French bulldogs were stolen, with Gaga offering a “no questions asked” reward of $500,000 for anyone who could provide information on the people behind the heist. The dogs were eventually returned by a woman named Jennifer McBride, but she sued Gaga after the pop icon refused to give her the reward for some reason. Now, two years later, TMZ says that a judge has dismissed McBride’s lawsuit, meaning Gaga is officially off the hook and doesn’t have to pay her! And all because McBride… was involved in stealing the dogs in the first place.

So yeah, one of the people who helped steal the dogs and was there when the dog walker got shot later took the dogs to the police, claiming she had found them, but Billboard explains she was later charged with one count of “receiving stolen property” and one count of “being an accessory after the fact” (she pleaded no contest in December and received two years of probation), and then she still tried to get the $500,000 reward. Obviously that’s pretty silly, and the judge on this case noted that McBride cannot “profit from her participation in a crime.” As TMZ put it: “AKA, uh… duh!”

But here’s the thing: What’s the point of a “no questions asked” reward if you’re allowed to ask one question, and that question is “did you steal these dogs”? What other questions could be asked that would necessitate a “no questions asked” reward? That was McBride’s argument, saying that Gaga’s offer was “unilateral,” but apparently our legal system doesn’t weigh the word of Lady Gaga equal to the word of the law. Which, arguably, might be an oversight. The Founding Fathers should’ve seen this one coming.