Katy Perry was called out for demanding millions in damages from an 85-year-old disabled veteran, In Touch can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Katy, 39, believes she’s owed over $5.5 million from Carl Westcott. His team scoffed at the request and are questioning the numbers she submitted.
Back in 2020, Carl sued Katy’s business manager, Bernie Gudvi, while seeking to undo a July 2020 agreement to sell his mansion in Santa Barbara, California. Katy’s team offered to buy the home for $13.5 million. Carl countered with an offer of $15 million that the pop star accepted.
The deal was signed on July 19, 2020. Carl, who founded 1-800-Flowers, claimed he was heavily medicated following back surgery when he executed the deal. Katy refused to back out of the deal.
In November 2023, the court sided with Katy and ordered the home to be turned over to her. The parties are preparing for phase two of the trial where Katy will make the case for damages.
In a recent filing, Carl’s lawyers revealed that Katy’s business manager has dramatically increased the amount they are seeking in damages. Initially, the lawsuit requested $2.67 million in damages for loss of use. Carl’s lawyer said Katy now wants $3.5 million for loss of use, which he said was expected “given the time between phases one and phases two.”
The attorney added, “However, [Katy’s manager] recently added another $2 million in ordinary money damages based on [Katy’s manager’s] new (and not pleaded) theory of negligence (i.e; that Mr. Westcott allegedly negligently maintained the property before he transferred it to Katy Perry).”
“It is obvious what is happening,” Carl’s lawyer said. “The purchase price that Katy Perry agreed to pay” was $15 million.
Carl’s lawyer said, “In stipulations this court approved in April, it was agreed that Mr. Westcott would transfer his house to Katy Perry, and she would deposit in escrow only $9 million of the $15 million price that she owes to Mr. Westcott.”
Carl’s team said Katy was to take whatever she was awarded in phase two of the trial and deduct that from the $6 million owed. His lawyer said, “Not that she owns title to the property, however, Katy Perry is increasing her damages claim to as close to the $6 million as possible. The desired goal is obviously to get to buy the house she agreed to buy for $15 million for just $9 million. To accomplish this, she has recently designated 25 new so-called witnesses on the repairs the home allegedly needs.”
The motion added, “The elderly Mr. Westcott, as the court knows, has been in a residential mental health hospital for dementia since September 2021.”
His family has been handling the legal matter for him. Carl’s lawyer scoffed at the damages Katy requested for home repairs. He said that Katy’s manager claimed the home has deteriorated significantly from 2020 to 2024 and accused Carl of being to blame.
Carl’s team said this is nonsense since they employed a team of full-time employees to maintain every aspect of the home ever since Carl was placed in a facility. They said the team included a house manager, who they said Katy tried to hire, a five-day per week maid, and gardener. They also paid for pest control, pool service and licensed contractors to come out for repairs. “The evidence so far shows Mr. Westcott paid approximately $45,000 to have the house interior and exterior painted right after he moved in during June 2020. A mere four years later, Katy Perry’s expert painter witness produced two documents at his deposition showing a new paint job will allegedly cost approximately $350,000.”
“Based on the 15 depositions Mr. Westcott has taken thus far, it is apparent that [Katy’s manager] (really, Katy Perry’s) actual goal is to remodel the property at the expense of Mr. Westcott, even though Mr. Westcott was never negligent in maintaining the home,” his lawyer added.
“This is the house that Katy Perry bought — she is not entitled to a disguised remodel at Mr. Westcott’s expense,” his lawyer added.
Carl’s lawyer argued, “Notably, deposition testimony from several witnesses has revealed that many of them were simply told to prepare bids for a variety of work not because of damage to the house, but because the house is ‘old.’
The motion added, “This court may have ruled that Mr. Westcott must sell his home, but before allowing Katy Perry to pay a sick old man just $9 million of the agreed $15 million price, Mr. Westcott deserves the right to perform the discovery and trial preparation the case deserves in light of Katy Perry’s new army of expert witnesses.”
As In Touch first reported, earlier this month, Carl’s lawyer asked for phase two of the trial to be postponed. It was noted that there had been “significant water leak” in the home that needed to be addressed, among other issues. A source close to Carl tells In Touch the damage caused by the leak was fixed within a day.
At a hearing this week, the judge granted the motion to continue phase two of the trial to February 2025.
The judge noted in his order, “There shall be absolutely NO FURTHER CONTINUANCES!!!”
In his initial lawsuit, Carl’s attorney wrote, “Prior to the delivery of the proposed written contract, [Carl] had not granted any real estate broker a listing to market his home sale. In contrast, the elderly [Carl] had just recently purchased and moved into his home a mere two months earlier. When [Carl] entered into the contract, he was under the influence of several intoxicating pain-killing opiates that his physicians instructed him to take when he was discharged from the hospital a few days earlier.”
Katy’s rep told Carl, “It is not unusual for a seller of a property such as this to suffer some degree ‘seller’s remorse.’ However, as I’m sure you know, ‘seller’s remorse’ is not grounds for canceling a binding contract.”
The case is ongoing.
