The son of an ailing veteran who is embroiled in a $5 million lawsuit with Katy Perry over a $15 million Montecito mansion has opened up about the brutal emotional toll the yearslong case has had on his father—revealing the family’s desperate desire for the case to end so they can spend their dad’s remaining days “in peace.”
Carl Westcott, 85, a businessman who founded the company 1-800-Flowers, became embroiled in a five-year legal battle with Perry, 41, after he agreed to sell his $15 million Montecito, CA, home to the pop star in 2020, only to try to back out just days later, claiming he had been under the influence of painkillers when he agreed to the sale.
Perry and Westcott spent the next three years locked in a bitter dispute over the property, before a judge granted ownership to the “Dark Horse” singer and her then-partner, Orlando Bloom, in December 2023. They officially took control of the dwelling in May 2024.
However, the chart-topper then went after Westcott—who has Huntington’s disease—for $5 million in damages, claiming not only that the home had required extensive repairs when she took ownership, but also that she had lost millions of dollars in potential rental income while the legal battle raged on.
That legal fight is finally set to conclude at the end of this month, when the court issues its final judgment, a moment that Westcott’s son, Chart, has said his family cannot wait for.
“This has been a lengthy and exhausting legal process,” he told Realtor.com®. “We look forward to a final verdict so our family can put this behind us and spend these remaining days in peace with our father.
“We are grateful for the support and patience of our friends and community, and we trust the court to complete this process and deliver justice for our father, Carl.”
The Westcott family is now awaiting the final hurdle in the legal battle—the agreement by both sides to a proposed statement of decision by Judge Joseph Lipner, who ruled on Nov. 25 that Perry should not be awarded the full $4.8 million she tried to sue Westcott for, but rather the lower sum of $1.8 million.
According to legal documents seen by Realtor.com, that total amount includes $2,795,000 for lost rental income between September 2020—when Perry and Bloom closed on the deal—and March 31, 2024, when the home was last in Westcott’s possession.
The judge then deducted $1,062,736 of retained capital and the $149,703 that Westcott lost in interest during that time—while limiting the cost of the repairs to $259,581.84, which is the exact amount that was previously proposed by Westcott’s lawyers.
It is a much lower figure than the one initially proposed by Perry, who argued that she had lost “$3,525,000 in rental value,” while also demanding that Westcott pay “$1,343,401.95 for necessary repairs” to the property.
Both parties had 10 days from Nov. 25 to make the judge aware of any “controverted issues or … proposals not covered in the tentative decision” before it is finalized.
However, should the settlement be agreed upon, Westcott will not be required to hand over money to Perry—who purchased the property through her business manager, Bernie Gudvi. Instead, the $1.8 million will be deducted from the $6 million that Perry still owes Westcott for his home.
Gudvi initially paid the former businessman just $9 million of the agreed-upon price and has waited to pay the rest until a judgment was reached. He will now owe Westcott $4,157,857.16.
“Katy Perry agreed to purchase the property for $15 million,” Westcott’s lawyer, Andrew J. Thomas, told Realtor.com. “The Westcotts transferred the home to her last year after she paid $9 million of the purchase price.
“She sought to avoid paying the remaining $6 million owed under the contract, but the court ruled she could only deduct $1.8 million of that balance.
“The document issued by the court on Nov. 25 is not the court’s final judgment. It is a tentative decision, and the court expressly allowed the parties time to submit alternative proposals. The case will not be concluded until a final judgment is issued; the court has indicated it aims to do so by Dec. 30.”
Lipner’s ruling, if finalized, will mark the end of a tumultuous, bitter legal battle between Perry and Westcott that has been raging since the sale was agreed upon more than five years ago.
At the time, Westcott attempted to back out of the sale of his home, stating that he was of “unsound mind” due to a recent medical procedure.
“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,” Westcott’s lawyers stated in court documents.
However, Perry’s representatives argued that Westcott had been of sound mind when he agreed to the deal and that he wanted to back out only because he hadn’t been able to find an alternative Montecito property to his liking or budget.
In December 2023, a judge ruled in Perry’s favor and ordered that the original sale contract, arranged by the pop star’s business manager, be upheld. Perry officially took possession of the home in May 2024.
The 1930s-era, 9,285-square-foot compound sits among the Santa Ynez foothills and has eight bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms, a tennis court, two guesthouses, and a pool.
Sensationally, during an August court hearing at which she appeared via Zoom, Perry admitted that she is not the owner of the Montecito property, which was actually purchased by her former fiancé, Bloom.
In her 55-minute testimony, Perry confirmed a courtroom revelation from her business partner: It was Bloom who held the title to the Santa Barbara County property through the limited liability company DDoveB, named after the former couple’s daughter.
Perry and Bloom had ended their six-year engagement one month before the hearing. However, the “California Gurls” singer said during her testimony that the actor and their shared daughter are her “family for life.”
“So when title to the house was transferred as a result of this lawsuit, it never went to you or any entity you control, isn’t that true?” Westcott’s attorney asked her.
“Yes, sir,” replied Perry, adding that DDoveB was one of Bloom’s limited liability companies.
When asked by Thomas what she stood to gain from the outcome of the trial, Perry shot back: “Justice.”
“How about money?” Thomas questioned. “Do you stand to make any money from the outcome of this litigation?”
“I stand to lose money if it doesn’t work in my favor,” said Perry.
Perry admitted that she contributed no funds when Bloom’s LLC purchased the house in 2024 and that her role in the home’s remodeling was limited to being a “partner and adviser.”
The celebrity witness elaborated further on her participation in the renovation, saying that she saw “pictures and videos” of the work being done but took no active part in it.
However, when she was asked who would be responsible for paying Westcott the remaining $6 million owed on the price of the house, Perry said that it was likely she and Bloom would pay together.
“Are you two somehow partners in the property?” Thomas asked, prompting Perry to respond: “We’re family for life.”
Though she stopped short of saying that she and Bloom were financial partners, she did say that the property at the center of the case was of “good financial interest for me.”
She added, “I will gain financially from out.”
Perry has not revealed whether she or Bloom ever actually lived in the Montecito residence, which they originally purchased as a family home in which to raise their daughter, Daisy Dove, 5.
The former couple own another opulent mansion in the same neighborhood, which they bought for $14.2 million soon after Westcott attempted to back out of the sale of his home.
That property—which records indicate is registered in Perry’s name alone—has been undergoing significant renovations over the past five years.
It is unclear whether Bloom played any role in the lawsuit against Westcott. However, the actor has largely attempted to remain out of the fray as far as the legal battle is concerned.
Westcott’s legal team previously failed in its efforts to persuade the judge to call Bloom as a witness—having claimed that he should be asked to testify about the repairs that the singer said had to be carried out on the home.
However, the judge in the case shut down that request, insisting that the lawyers needed to rely only on testimony from the contractors who were involved in the process, while accusing the legal team of trying to turn the trial into a “celebrity circus.”
“Why do you need Mr. Bloom to do that, other than to make it a celebrity circus?” Lipner asked Westcott’s lawyers in an Aug. 1 hearing, according to Rolling Stone. “Why don’t you just talk to the construction person who actually did it?”
Hollywood actor Chris Pratt and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, were then dragged into the legal saga, when it was reported that they had moved into the Montecito property after leasing it from Perry and Bloom.
The couple, who are in the process of building a custom compound in Brentwood, are said to have been loaned the Montecito property to use while they wait for their new home to be completed.
Westcott’s lawyers had asked the judge in the August hearing to question Pratt about the condition of the home when he moved in, according to Fox News—noting that he could provide key evidence to slap down Perry’s claims that significant damage had been done before she officially took ownership of the dwelling.
The lawyers also pointed out that Pratt and his wife have been closely linked to the property since Perry first expressed interest in it—calling attention to the fact that she became involved in a bidding war with Schwarzenegger’s mother, Maria Shriver, who was also keen to buy the abode.
