Katy Perry's new music is not the only thing she is celebrating this week.
The "Teenage Dream" songstress now has the deed to her Montecito mansion after winning a years-long court battle. She and her partner, Orlando Bloom, purchased the home for $15 million in 2020 from Carl Westcott.
After the alleged sale, Westcott, a veteran and the founder of 1-800-FLOWERS, sued the couple to rescind the offer, citing mental incapacity as his reasoning. The battle over the mansion dragged Perry into a three year-long legal case, fighting over her right to purchase the property.
Three years after the case started, a judge has now ruled that Westcott was of sound mind and body when the sale of the home occurred, confirming Perry as the rightful owner. It was made permanent in 2023 and Perry has now obtained the deed to the contested property. Filed on May 17, the need was filed to her limited liability corporation, DDoveB, which is a reference to the name of their daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom, House Beautiful reports.
It is unclear where Perry, Bloom, and their daughter had been residing throughout the nasty court battle, which was further fueled by Westcott's daughter, Kameron Westcott, who is a former star of the Bravo series The Real Housewives of Dallas. Westcott, who appeared on the now-cancelled series for four seasons, called out the "Roar" singer's "greed" on her Instagram account when the judge's decision was made.
"Today's proposed decision is clear-the judge found that Mr. Westcott could not prove anything other than he was of perfectly sound mind when he engaged in complex negotiations over several weeks with multiple parties to transact a lucrative sale of the property that netted him a substantial profit," said Perry's representative throughout the trial, Eric Rowen.
Although Perry now has the deed in her hands, the legal drama is "Never Really Over," to quote her 2019 hit. As she moves into the home, she is also set to testify in court this July for a second phase of the trial. The "Dark Horse" singer will be requesting damages for lost fair-market rental value, deferred maintenance, and some other necessary repairs that were caused by a fallen tree and water damage.
The house was originally on the market for $15 million, but Perry only paid $9 million prior to the legal battle ensuing. This means that she will now pay the balance once the court determines how much Westcott will owe in damages. It is speculated that the damages could reach a sum of $6 million, which would even out the original price that she was requested to pay.
The lawsuit was Perry's second real estate-related legal battle. In 2018, while Perry was in a legal battle over purchasing an 8-acre former convent, a 98-year-old nun died in the courtroom. The sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary had originally sold the property to a restaurateur, but their Archdiocese said that they did not have the authority to sell it themselves. It eventually went to Perry through the Archdiocese.
The nuns also said that "Katy Perry represents everything we don't believe in," NPR reports, with them labeling the sale as a "sin."
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