LOS ANGELES – A lawyer asked Katy Perry Tuesday whether she was standing down to get money or something else from a court-martialed legal battle over a California mansion.
“Justice” was the one-word response from the singing superstar, former “American Idol” judge and recent astronaut as part of an hours-long testimony she gave in a Los Angeles courtroom.
In her tense, careful testimony, Perry does not directly admit that she stood to win money if she won, but said, “I stand to lose money if it doesn’t work out in my favor.”
She was speaking at the second trial in the dispute over a $15 million mansion in upscale Montecito near Santa Barbara that she and former partner Orlando Bloom bought in 2020.
The seller, 85-year-old Carl Westcott, said he was not mentally competent to make the deal happen and sued to have it overturned.
Perry’s side — technically her business manager, Bernie Goodway, was the defendant — prevailed in the first trial in 2023. Goodway, representing Perry, then pledged to pay the lost rental income generated by the legal battle and the millions in maintenance that may be needed. That led to the current follow-up trial.
Westcott’s attorney, Andrew J. Thomas, often tried to steer the conversation toward Bloom. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Lipner ruled that the “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Lord of the Rings” actor did not have to testify because it would be redundant and unnecessary, even though Parliament is officially owned by the company he founded.
Asked if she has any role in overseeing the home’s oversight, Perry said she acts as a “partner and advisor.”
The couple, who split in July, have a daughter together, whose fifth birthday was Tuesday.
When asked about the nature of their partnership, Perry replied, “We are family for life.”
Perry’s attorney, Eric Rowen, objected to almost all of Thomas’ questions as irrelevant, including most of the inquiries about Bloom, which Lipner kept to a minimum.
Rowan objected particularly angrily when Perry was asked if she knew that Westcott had previously entered a mental institution into a legal battle, apparently suggesting that the question was an attack for the benefit of the media present.
“It’s, I don’t want to say unethical, but it’s simply an effort to push the narrative for parties outside of this courtroom,” Rowen said. The judge overrode his objection, and the question was not allowed.
The judge and lawyers called Perry “Miss Hudson.” Her legal name is Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson.
She is currently on an international tour and has recently been linked to former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It was unclear where she was during Tuesday’s questioning.
Thomas repeatedly asked Perry if she had had enough money to buy a $15 million mansion.
“I could have,” she eventually said, “but I wanted to take out a mortgage instead.”
Perry admitted that in a previous trial she said she planned to live in the mansion, not rent it. But in this trial, the tenants, including actor Chris Pratt’s family, are the main focus. There was discussion about Pratt testifying, but he was not on the final witness list.
There was one light moment at the end of Perry’s testimony when she described some dealings with Westcott and said, “I was pregnant at the time.”
He couldn’t be heard clearly, and Lipner said he heard, “It was private.”
“No, pregnant!” Perry laughed.
Perry’s own lawyer refused to cross-examine him, and the judge acquitted him.
Like the previous trial, there is no jury, and Lipner will decide the outcome. Perry’s testimony came on the fourth day of the trial, which is expected to continue for two more days.
This isn’t the first long public battle Perry has had over the property. She previously took the matter to court with an order of nuns who fought to stop the sale of the convent they had purchased. In this case, she prevailed.
She also testified in a lawsuit that alleged that she and her co-writers stole key elements of her hit song “Dark Horse” from a Christian musician. She lost at trial but won on appeal.
