Lady Gaga’s dogwalker defends singer following shooting: ‘She’s helped me so much’
Lady Gaga (L) and Richard Fischer. (Getty Images/Instagram)
Lady Gaga’s dogwalker has struck down rumours that the singer has not supported him after he was shot while taking care of her pets.
Ryan Fischer was ambushed and gunned down while walking the “Stupid Love” hitmaker’s three French bulldogs near his West Hollywood apartment in February.
Months on since the harrowing attack, Fischer has spoken out about his near-death experience in an interview with CBS Morning’s Gayle King on Friday (17 September).
Lady Gaga’s dogwalker: ‘She’s been a friend to me’
“I was scared, I was in pain,” Fischer recalled. “I had a feeling when they pulled the gun on me that I was gonna end up being shot.
“Because, in my mind, I was like: ‘There’s no way that I’m not gonna fight for these dogs’.”
Reports surfaced after the shooting that Lady Gaga would be paying for the 30-year-old’s medical expenses, which tallied more than £7,000.
Fischer still has a long road to recovery ahead of him and is currently on a months-long road trip across the US to heal. But Gaga, Fischer said, has been with him every step of the way.
“She’s helped me so much,” he said, “she’s been a friend for me.
“And after I was attacked, my family was flown out and had trauma therapists flown to me.
“I stayed at her house for months while friends comforted me and security was around me.”
Gayle pressed Fischer on his GoFundMe to raise funds to buy a replacement van as well as keep himself afloat as he travels the country.
She asked if the pair are on “good terms” as “people thought, ‘why does he need to have a GoFundMe? Why isn’t Lady Gaga helping him?'”
But Fischer insisted he has sought to raise the cash himself rather than lean on the musician. “LG’s very supportive of my journey right now,” he said.
“I think it’s hard for people to understand why someone would go about healing in this way. I grew up Catholic, in the Jesuit faith, and there’s something about giving up your resources, giving up your belongings and to contribute back to society.
“I know that doesn’t make sense to a lot of people, but she totally gets it.”
After trying to resist, the dognappers dragged French bulldogs Koji and Gustav away from Fischer. He was found by first responders clinging to Gaga’s first pup, Miss Asia.
Fischer attackers – James Jackson, 18, Jaylin White, 19, and Lafayette Whaley, 27 – have since been apprehended.
