Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom are embroiled in a three-year legal battle with an 83-year veteran over a $15 million Santa Barbara home.
can reveal that 83-year-old Carl Westcott signed a real estate deal to sell his home to the singer in July 2020, claiming he is under the influence of opioids and painkillers following major back surgery.
When the painkillers wore off days later, Westcott, who has Huntington’s disease, claimed he realized what he had signed and canceled the contract.
But the couple’s agents ignored Westcott’s request and threatened a lawsuit if he didn’t go ahead with the sale of the eight-bedroom, 11-bathroom property.
Three years later, the trial is now set for later this month.
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom have been embroiled in a legal battle with veteran Carl Westcott, 83, over his $15 million Santa Barbara home for the past three years
In July 2020, Westcott signed a real estate deal to sell his home to the singer, claiming he was under the influence of opioids following back surgery
The singer’s agents ignored Westcott’s request to end the deal and threatened a lawsuit if he didn’t go ahead with the sale of the property
Westcott was 80 at the time of the sale and had had Huntington’s disease since 2015.
The rare disease attacks areas of the brain that control voluntary movement, with one of the symptoms being dementia.
According to Westcott’s complaint, seen by , he has never put the property up for sale or spoken to an agent about putting the 9,285-square-foot home on the market.
Westcott bought the home in May 2020 and moved in with Perry just two months before the sale. He planned to live there “for the rest of his life” as his primary residence, the complaint said.
On July 11, 2020, Westcott was discharged from the hospital after undergoing extensive six-hour back surgery.
“Upon discharge from hospital, Mr. Westcott was prescribed at least two opiate pills to continue taking for pain, which he took several times a day as directed,” the complaint reads.
“The combination of his age, the frailty of his back condition and recent surgery, and the multiple daily use of opiates left Mr. Westcott insane.”
Three days later on July 14, Bernie Gudvi, representing real life buyers Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, presented Westcott with the written offer, which was more money than he paid for the home on May 29, 2020.
The next day, Westcott signed the document prepared by the brokerage firm.
His attorneys argue that Westcott “was unable to understand the nature and likely consequences of his actions.”
A few days later, Westcott “revived his mind” and recognized the weight of his signature on the purchase agreement, the complaint said.
On July 22, Westcott emailed Berkshire Hathaway, the dual seller-buyer representative. In it he said he did not want to sell his house, described being under the influence of painkillers and said he was ‘in the last year of his life and cannot sell his house.’
“The letter informed Mr Westcott that his clients, Mr Bloom and Ms Hudson, are unwilling to give up the purchase of Mr Westcott’s home and that he has an obligation to complete the sale,” the complaint reads
According to Westcott’s complaint, seen by , he has never put the property up for sale or spoken to an agent about putting the stunning 9,285-square-foot home on the market
The couple’s agents ignored Westcott’s request and threatened a lawsuit if he didn’t proceed with the sale of the eight-bedroom, 11-bathroom property
Two days later, Westcott received a letter from an attorney.
“The letter states, in substance and in substance, that the solicitor represented not only Mr Gudvi, but also Mr Orlando Bloom and Ms Katheryn Hudson (known professionally as Katy Perry), on whose behalf Mr Gudvi had always acted.
“The letter informed Mr Westcott that his clients, Mr Bloom and Ms Hudson, are unwilling to give up the purchase of Mr Westcott’s home and that he has an obligation to complete the sale.”
His attorneys argue that the contract to sell his home is “voidable” because of Westcott’s mental state.
Westcott will not attend the trial as he is permanently mentally disabled and bedridden as a result of his illness.
Westcott’s family is now fighting the singer for control of her father’s $15 million estate.
Westcott is a veteran of the US Army’s 101st Airborne and is known for his successful entrepreneurial ventures with 1-800-Flowers.
In 2015, Katy found herself in a dispute with elderly Roman Catholic nuns over the sale of a Los Angeles convent. Sister Rita Callanan (right) and Sister Catherine Rose Holzman (left) lived on the eight-acre property until 2011, which also includes a 30,000-square-foot Spanish-Gothic home
Perry wanted to buy a historic convent in Los Angeles owned by the historic Order of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
This isn’t the first time Katy Perry has faced legal troubles when buying a home.
In 2015, Katy found herself in a dispute with elderly Roman Catholic nuns over the sale of a Los Angeles convent.
Perry bought the monastery in 2015, paying $14.5 million in cash to Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez.
Sister Rita Callanan and Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, who have lived at the convent since the ’70s, claimed Gomez had no right to sell the property and said they sold it weeks earlier for $15.5 million.
But the Archdiocese of Los Angeles sued to block the sale, saying the nuns were not authorized to sell the property.
A judge ruled in 2016 that the sale was invalid, awarding Perry and the Archdiocese a total of more than $15 million in damages.
During the 2018 legal battle, Sister Holzman, 89, collapsed during a court hearing and died.
Sister Callanan, the only surviving nun living in the Order of the Most Sacred and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, said at the time that Katy Perry had “blood on her hands”.