A home turned into an unexpected legal brawl for Hollywood couple Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom . An 83-year-old man called Carl Westcott has dragged them into court over their $15 million Santa Barbara mansion. His complaint is bizarre, as he claims the Dark Horse singer and her fiance bought it while he was on painkillers.
Apparently, the man alleged that the mansion was sold to the celebrity couple while he was under the influence of opioids. Westcott had not long been discharged from the hospital following a six-hour back surgery, reported the Daily Mail . The real-estate agent claims he realized later what he’d signed away.
After the effects of the painkillers wore off, Westcott believed the deal was unfair. The man has Huntington’s Disease and filed a lawsuit against the duo in 2020. Although the case has been ongoing for three years, it will reach the court now. However, Perry and the Pirates of the Caribbean actor’s agents threatened to sue him.
The lavish home is located at 1569 E. Valley Rd, and based on reports, Westcott moved in just two months before the celeb couple bought the estate, according to the New York Post . The court documents obtained by the outlet claim the sale contract was signed when he (Westcott) “lacked the mental capacity to understand the nature and probable consequences of the contract.”
The documents also allege he never listed the property or spoke to a broker about listing his eight-bedroom, 11-bathroom home, reports Marca . The complaint further reads, “Upon discharge from the hospital, Mr. Westcott was prescribed at least two opiates in pill form that he was to continue taking for pain, which he took as prescribed several times each day.”
It added, “The combination of his age, frailty from his back condition and recent surgery, and the opiates he was taking several times a day rendered Mr. Westcott of unsound mind.” However, Perry and Bloom have not been named as parties in the lawsuit, but business manager Bernie Gudvi is listed as the primary defendant.
Gudvi represented the couple during the sale of Westcott’s home in 2020. The man who filed the case has links to the US Army. Apparently, he served in the US Army as a 101st Airborne service member. According to The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans , he was born in 1939 at the charity hospital in Vicksburg, Mississippi.
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The veteran gained recognition for his various successful entrepreneurial ventures, notably with ‘1-800-Flowers’. Despite his efforts to revoke the contract, he is now forced to face the legal battle scheduled for trial on August 21. The estate occupies over 7,100 square feet and boasts six bedrooms and 12 bathrooms.
This isn’t Perry’s first legal issue. In 2015, the Roar singer faced a case with Catholic nuns known as the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary , located in Los Feliz. The structure was purchased by fifty-two sisters in 1972 and stayed there until 2011. When only five sisters were left, they were forced to relocate.
Nun Involved In Katy Perry Convent Lawsuit Collapses And Dies In Court https://t.co/i1rvu8OJi1
— NPR (@NPR) March 10, 2018
The medieval Spanish-Gothic-Tudor estate was granted to Perry in 2016, and the nuns lost a years-long battle.
References:
https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/celebrities/2023/08/09/64d3a8e022601db3408b45b1.html
https://nypost.com/2023/08/09/katy-perry-in-a-3-year-suit-over-montecito-mansion-purchase/