VoxBlog

Highlights

• Key takeaways:
• Katy Perry will have to testify in a trial regarding the disputed purchase of her $15 million mansion with Orlando Bloom.
• The seller claims he was mentally incapacitated and did not want to sell the estate, leading to the ongoing lawsuit.
• Katy and Orlando are also countersuing for over $5 million in damages and expenses due to loss of rental income during the legal proceedings.

Katy Perry is going to have to get on the witness stand if she has any hopes of keeping the $15 million mansion she bought with Orlando Bloom years ago.

The couple originally bought a Santa Barbara home with 8 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms from Carl Westcott, an 84-year-old businessman. Katy and Orlando paid $15 million for the property, which features 9,200 square feet of living space. However, the sale has been in dispute ever since the transaction was closed. Westcott now claims he wasn’t in the right mindset to complete the deal and never wanted to sell his estate in the first place.

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The seller claims he was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease in 2015, which left him mentally incapacitated. This condition causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain and is often accompanied by symptoms such as confusion, mood swings, depression, and trouble concentrating.

Westcott now lives in a facility for dementia patients due to his deteriorating condition, but he’s continuing to fight Katy and Orlando for what he believes was an unlawful transaction.

Though it seems Katy will now have to appear in public for the non-jury trial to testify, her legal team initially tried to get the singer’s deposition to work instead. They also argued that getting her in-person for the trial would be difficult, since she’s traveling for work.

Nevertheless, a judge ruled that Katy will have to take the witness stand in order for the trial to move forward, though she may be able to do so from a remote location. “I am inclined to have her do it remote, but I am not inclined to have a closed court,” the judge said, court documents reveal. “She is a person like anyone else. She is asking for a lot of money."

While Katy and Orlando may have to make a big payout if they come out on the losing side given the home’s multi-million dollar value (and potential damages they could be at fault for), the couple are actually hoping to secure their own million-dollar win.

In a countersuit, Katy is seeking over $5 million in damages due to loss of rental income as well as to cover the expenses she and Orlando have spent to rent other properties while the case has been ongoing.

Katy and Orlando have not commented on the most recent update from the lawsuit.

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