Orlando Bloom was dragged into his fiancée Katy Perry’s legal battle with an 85-year-old disabled veteran over a $15 million mansion, In Touch has learned.
Sources tell In Touch that Orlando, 47, was issued a subpoena this week by Carl Westcott’s legal team. The subpoena requests Orlando testify in phase two of the trial, scheduled for February 25, where Katy, 40, was ordered to take the stand.
Carl sued Katy’s business manager, Bernie Gudvi, in 2020. The businessman pleaded with the court to rule an agreement he made with Bernie to sell his home in Santa Barbara, California, could not be enforced.
Carl, who founded 1-800-Flowers, explained he agreed to sell his home for $15 million in July 2020. In court documents, Carl said he was heavily medicated following back surgery at the time he made the deal.
The businessman said he reached out to Katy’s business manager after his medicine wore off asking to back out of the deal. Carl said Katy’s team refused despite hearing his story.
The parties went through phase one of the trial in November 2023. The court ended up siding with the pop star and ordered the deal was enforceable. The next step in phase two is to determine how much Katy will be awarded in damages.
As In Touch first reported, Carl’s lawyers recently revealed that Katy’s business manager has increased the amount of damages sought from $2.67 million to $5.5 million.
Carl’s attorney said Katy demanded $3.5 million in damages for loss of use of the home, which he expected. However, he noted, “[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 continued. “The purchase price that Katy Perry agreed to pay” was $15 million.
Carl’s lawyer added, “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 lawyer said Katy agreed to take the amount she was awarded in phase two and deduct it from the $6 million owed.
The businessman’s 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.”
His lawyer pointed out, “The elderly Mr. Westcott, as the court knows, has been in a residential mental health hospital for dementia since September 2021.”
Carl’s team objected to the claims the home was negligent or that the home needed millions of dollars in repairs. The family said Carl’s team employed a team of full-time employees to maintain the property since Carl was placed into a facility.
The judge scheduled phase two of the trial for February.
