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Lady Gaga Scam: Sued for $5M over Japan Earthquake Charity

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on June 27, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Did Lady Gaga scam earthquake victims in Japan? Lady Gaga's charity was a scam, according to a new lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed by aptly named law firm, 1-800-LAW-FIRM, and was filed as a class action in the U.S. District Court in Michigan, reports E! Online.

Lady Gaga had encouraged fans to buy $5 charity wristbands for relief efforts in Japan after the tragic earthquake and tsunami, according to E! Online.

She originally indicated that "all" of the proceeds would go toward the Japan relief efforts, though instead a majority of the money went toward shipping costs that were way over the actual amount needed to ship the bracelets, according to the filed lawsuit.

The shipping costs totaled $3.99 for the $5 bracelet - especially when at most the shipping would have cost around 50 cents, says Ari Kresch, an attorney for 1-800-LAW-FIRM, to E! News.

And, there was also a sales tax charged for each bracelet, furthering reducing the amount that was actually donated, according to Kresch.

Did Lady Gaga really use a "Poker Face" when duping her fans? The class action alleges that Lady Gaga violated federal laws and engaged in a racketeering scheme.

Racketeering is a pattern of illegal activity like extortion or murder, that furthers some sort of "enterprise" - usually a criminal syndicate (like a stereotypical mob or mafia). So, how does this logically fit in with Lady Gaga? Sure, she may have a strange sense of fashion, but she doesn't fit into a criminal mastermind mold.

The lawsuit alleges that Lady Gaga and her various associated companies were in an "enterprise" through which they conducted illegal activity including mail fraud and wire fraud to perpetrate the scam.

The defendants in the Lady Gaga scam lawsuit haven't commented on the suit, reports The Washington Post. But, one thing is true - if Lady Gaga's charity scam is for real, the pop star will have to answer to her legion of "Little Monsters."

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