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After a three-year legal battle, pop star Katy Perry is now the official owner of a $15 million mansion in the celebrity enclave of Montecito, California, that previously belonged to entrepreneur and disabled veteran Carl Westcott.
The singer officially acquired the property on Friday, May 17, through her LLC, DDoveB — a tribute to her daughter, Daisy Dove Bloom — according to property records seen by The Wall Street Journal.
In July 2020, Perry, 39, bought the two-acre estate and eight-bedroom house from Westcott, 85. Westcott signed a contract with the singer's business manager, Bernie Gudvi.
But days later, Westcott decided he no longer wished to sell the property, arguing that he was mentally incapacitated due to Huntington's disease and pain medication he was taking after undergoing back surgery.
Huntington's disease attacks parts of the brain that control voluntary movement. One of the symptoms is dementia.
The courtroom drama culminated in December 2023 when a judge ruled in Perry's favor.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joseph Lipner previously told People, "Westcott presented no persuasive evidence that he lacked capacity into a real estate contract."
Perry's attorney, Eric Rowen, told Rolling Stone, "The evidence shows that Mr. Westcott breached the contract for no other reason than he had changed his mind."
In a message to The Journal, Chart Westcott, Westcott's son, said Perry's actions were a sign that "Hollywood hypocrisy and fake empathy knows no bounds" and labeled her pursuit of damages "heartless" as these will "be paid in effect by my father's grandchildren."
Westcott, who regularly spent his holidays in Santa Barbara from Dallas, bought the property in May 2020 for $11.25 million. Perry swooped in a few weeks later, outbidding TV journalist Maria Shriver.
Perry's new property is next to Oprah Winfrey's $100 million estate, Promised Land, and not far from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's $14.65 million home, per The Times.
So far, Perry has paid $9 million for the property. The upcoming phase of the trial will determine how much Perry still owes Westcott. However, the singer is seeking damages for lost rental value, delays in repairs required for water damage, and a tree falling. The Journal said the damages could be more than $6 million.
John Shearer/Getty Images for Katy Perry
It is Perry's second time involved in a legal battle over property.
In 2015, she was battling two elderly Roman Catholic nuns over the sale of a former convent.
Perry purchased the building once sued by The Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 2015 from Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez.
Sister Rita Callanan and Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, 89, who had formerly lived in the building since the 1970s, said Gomez had no right to sell the property and claimed they had already sold it several weeks before.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles sued to block their deal, arguing that the nuns had exceeded their authority.
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In 2016, a judge ruled against the nuns and awarded Perry and the Archdiocese damages of more than $10 million.
During a court appearance in 2018, Sister Holzman, 89, collapsed and died.
Sister Callanan, said at the time that Katy Perry "has blood on her hands."
Sister Callanan told The New York Post that her friend's last words were: "Katy Perry. Please stop," per Sky News.
