Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom have been embroiled in a three-year legal battle with an 83-year-old veteran over a $15 million Santa Barbara home.
DailyMail.com can reveal that in July 2020 Carl Westcott, 83, signed a real estate contract to sell his home to the singer alleging he was under the influence of opioids and painkillers after major back surgery.
When the effects of the painkillers wore off days later, Westcott, who suffers from Huntington’s disease, says he realized what he had signed up for and terminated the contract.
But the couple’s agents ignored Westcott’s request and threatened to sue him if he didn’t go ahead with the sale of the eight-bedroom, 11-bathroom property.
Three years later, the trial is now scheduled 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 contract 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 cancel the deal and threatened to sue him if he didn’t go through with the sale of the property.
Westcott was 80 years old at the time of the sale and had suffered from Huntington’s disease since 2015.
The rare disease attacks areas of the brain that control voluntary movement, and one of the symptoms is dementia.
According to Westcott’s complaint obtained by DailyMail.com, he never listed the property or talked to a broker about putting the 9,285-square-foot home on the market.
Westcott had purchased the home in May 2020, moving in just two months before the sale with Perry. She planned to live there as her primary residence “for the rest of her life,” the complaint says.
On July 11, 2020, Westcott was released from the hospital after undergoing a major six-hour back surgery.
“Upon leaving the hospital, Mr. Westcott was prescribed at least two opiates in pill form to continue to take for pain, which he took as prescribed several times a day,” the complaint states.
“The combination of his age, the fragility of his back and recent surgery, and the opiates he was taking several times a day made Mr. Westcott mentally unstable.”
Three days later, on July 14, Bernie Gudvi, who represented Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom, presented Westcott with the written offer, which was more money than he had paid for the house on May 29, 2020.
The next day, Westcott signed the document prepared by the brokerage firm.
His lawyers argue that Westcott was “failed to understand the nature and likely consequences of his actions.”
Days later, Westcott “began to feel clear-headed again” and realized the weight of his signature on the sales agreement, the complaint says.
On July 22, Westcott emailed Berkshire Hathaway, the dual agent for the seller and buyer, saying he did not want to sell his home, described how he had been under the influence of painkillers and said he was “in the last few years of his life and he can’t sell his house.’
“The letter informs Mr. Westcott that his clients, Mr. Bloom and Ms. Hudson, are unwilling to walk away from their purchase of Mr. Westcott’s home and that he is obligated to complete the sale,” the letter says. complaint.
According to Westcott’s complaint obtained by DailyMail.com, he never listed the property or spoke to a broker about putting the impressive 9,285-square-foot home on the market.
Agents for the couple ignored Westcott’s request and threatened to sue him if he didn’t go ahead with the sale of the eight-bedroom, 11-bathroom property.
Two days later, Westcott received a letter from a lawyer.
“The letter stated, in summary and substance, that the attorney 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 been acting.
“The letter informs Mr. Westcott that his clients, Mr. Bloom and Ms. Hudson, are unwilling to walk away from their purchase of Mr. Westcott’s home and that he is obligated to complete the sale.”
His lawyers argue that the contract to sell his house is ‘voidable’ due to Westcott’s mental state.
Westcott will not attend the trial because his illness has left him permanently mentally incapacitated and bedridden.
Westcott’s family is now fighting the singer for control of his father’s $15 million estate.
Westcott is a veteran of the US Army 101st Air Force and is known for his successful business ventures with 1-800-Flowers.
In 2015, Katy was in a battle with elderly Catholic nuns over the sale of a convent in Los Angeles. Sister Rita Callanan (right) and Sister Catherine Rose Holzman (left) lived on the eight-acre property that includes a 30,000-square-foot Spanish Gothic house until 2011
Perry wanted to buy a historic convent in Los Angeles, which is owned by the historic Order of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This is not the first time that Katy Perry has had legal problems when buying a house.
In 2015, he was in a battle with elderly Catholic nuns over the sale of a Los Angeles convent.
Perry bought the convent in 2015, paying $14.5 million in cash to Los Angeles Archbishop José Gómez.
Sister Rita Callanan and Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, who had lived in the convent since the 1970s, claimed that Gomez had no right to sell the property, saying they had already sold it weeks earlier for $15.5 million.
But the Archdiocese of Los Angeles sued to block the sale, arguing that the nuns had no authority to sell the property.
A judge ruled in 2016 that the sale was invalid and awarded Perry and the Archdiocese damages totaling more than $15 million.
During the 2018 legal battle, Sister Holzman, 89, collapsed and died during a court appearance.
Sister Callanan, the only surviving nun living in the Order of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, said at the time that Katy Perry “has blood on her hands.”
