Chris Pratt has been named as a potential witness in Katy Perry’s ongoing legal battle with an elderly veteran who formerly owned her $15million (£11.8million) California mansion.
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The ongoing dispute stems from Perry and her ex-partner Orlando Bloom’s attempt to buy a mansion in Montecito, California for $15million (£11.8million) from army veteran Carl Westcott, 86, in 2020.
According to the Daily Mail, Westcott had moved into the home two months before the couple bought the estate. He had allegedly signed a real estate contract to sell his home, but later claimed he was under the influence of opioids and painkillers after “a major six-hour surgery” that he claims had “seriously impaired [his] mental faculties to the point he was of unsound mind and not competent to give his free, voluntary, or intelligent consent to the contract.”
A week after signing, Westcott said he began to feel “mentally clear again” after his surgery medication wore off, and said that he no longer wanted to go through with the sale.
In response, Perry and Bloom’s representative presented Westcott with an increased financial offer – more than he paid for the home – which was refused by Westcott. They have been locked in a legal dispute ever since.
The first part of the trial, which has been split into two phases, took place in November 2023, and saw a judge side with Perry, upholding the original sale contract.
Yesterday (August 21), the trial picked up again, entering the damages phase, with Perry, who in 2024 paid $9million (£6.7million) in escrow once she gained ownership of the home, seeking the remaining $6million (£4.4million) in damages from Westcott.
The singer claims that in the four years she had to wait to take control of the house, she lost $3million (£2.2million) in fair-market rental income, per Rolling Stone.
She further alleges that Westcott’s “lack of maintenance” for the property during that time cost her $2.29million (£1.7million) in necessary repairs to restore the home to the state it was in when she first purchased it.
Perry has been ordered to testify at this month’s trial.
Pratt is currently renting and residing in the property with his family. He has not yet been deposed, though Westcott’s legal team has reportedly asked the judge to question the Guardians Of The Galaxy and Jurassic World star about the mansion’s alleged damages.
Court documents filed July 31 by Westcott say that Perry has rented out the Westcott Property to Pratt and his wife – the latter who’s mother, Maria Shriver, “was bidding against Perry in 2020 to buy the Westcott Property, which is why Perry increased her original $13.5 offer to Westcott to the agreed-on $15 million price,”, per Fox News Digital.
Filings go on to allege: “The $2.29 million in estimated repairs was bogus and Perry was able to rent the Westcott Property as-is to Chris Pratt (for what some have rumored to be $150,000 in rent just for this summer).”
Westcott had initially asked the judge to call on Bloom as a witness to testify about the cost of the repairs, but the judge denied his request.
“Why do you need Mr. Bloom to do that, other than to make it a celebrity circus?” Judge Joseph Lipner asked at an earlier hearing, per the Independent. “Why don’t you just talk to the construction person who actually did it?”
In 2017, Perry was involved in another property dispute and was awarded $3.3million (£2.6million) in damages after a lengthy legal battle over her attempts to buy a Los Angeles convent.
In other news, Pratt has recently been criticised for describing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is the cousin of his wife, as “funny” and “wonderful”.
As for Perry, earlier this year, she announced that she and Bloom had separated.
She’s currently on her ‘Lifetimes Tour’, which has been making headlines for various reasons, including props malfunctioning, fans fainting on stage, and divided opinions over the choreography.
Before it kicked off, the pop star turned heads again and split fan opinions when she travelled to space to reveal the ‘Lifetimes’ tour setlist in April.
