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Actor Orlando Bloom has been identified as the true owner of the $15 million mansion in Montecito, CA, at the heart of a yearslong legal battle between his ex-fiancee Katy Perry and an elderly Army veteran, according to new courtroom testimony.
Last week, Perry’s longtime business manager, Bernie Gudvi, revealed from the witness stand that it was Bloom, 48, who had purchased the sprawling home from plaintiff Carl Westcott through a limited liability company named after the former celebrity couple’s young daughter.
“I believe Mr. Bloom bought the house through some controlled entity,” Gudvi said while being cross-examined by plaintiff’s attorney Andrew Thomas.
When pressed by Thomas if it was his understanding that it was Bloom who secured the Montecito property in May 2024, Gudvi replied: “That’s correct.”
A document filed with the California Office of the Secretary of State, dated May 10, 2024, indicates that Bloom and two of his business managers formed a limited liability company. Notably, Perry’s name is absent from the letter.
That same month, the deed of the Montecito estate was transferred to the LLC.
Then in August 2024, the LLC took out a loan against the house from City National Bank in the amount of $4.95 million.
During cross-examination, the plaintiff’s lawyer zeroed in on the issue of the property’s legal ownership.
Using Perry’s birth name, Katheryn Hudson, Thomas asked Gudvi: “So Ms. Hudson has no interest whatever in the house, since the date it was purchased on May 17, 2024?”
“I can’t say that. I don’t know,” replied Gudvi. “I mean, shared legal interest, I don’t think so.”
Perry and Bloom split up in July after nine years together. Just weeks later, the pop star was spotted enjoying a lavish dinner with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Perry, 40, is scheduled to take the stand in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, which coincides with her daughter’s 5th birthday.
(NATASHA LEE FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
Her upcoming testimony was the subject of some heated back and forth last week, after defense attorney Alex Lindhart asked that the “Dark Horse” hitmaker be allowed to take the stand “out of order” on the first day of the trial, arguing that it was the only day she was available amid her international tour.
Judge Joseph Lipner lashed out at Perry’s team, calling the request “really outrageous” and arguing that it was putting Westcott at a strategic disadvantage.
“It doesn’t reflect well on Ms. Hudson,” Lipner said, using Perry’s legal surname. “It’s not nice. It’s not right.”
Instead of taking the stand on Thursday, Perry took a break from her “Lifetimes Tour” and was photographed soaking up the sun on a Miami beach in a black-and-white bikini. She performed a show at Miami’s Kaseya Center on Saturday.
Westcott’s lawyers have repeatedly asked the judge to call Bloom to the stand as well, but so far their pleas have been rejected.
Following Thursday’s revelations concerning the ownership of the Montecito property, Thomas, the plaintiff’s attorney, accused the other side of “strategizing” to keep the home’s real owner—Bloom—from being questioned in open court.
But Lipner was not impressed by that argument, retorting: “I’m not terribly moved even with this fact to allow Mr. Bloom to testify.”
The twisty legal saga involving Perry and Westcott, the ailing 85-year-old founder of 1-800 Flowers, dates back to 2020, when the “Fireworks” songstress entered into contract with the veteran to purchase his Montecito home for $15 million.
The 9,285-square-foot estate nestled in the Santa Ynez foothills features eight bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms, a tennis court, two guesthouses, and a pool.
Westcott had reportedly purchased the home for a little over $11 million just two months before agreeing to sell it to Perry.
But a few days after making the deal, Westcott, who suffers from a brain disorder, reneged on the agreement, claiming that he had been under the influence of painkillers when he agreed to sell.
“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 claimed in court filings.
However, Perry’s team argued that Westcott had been of sound mind when he consented to the real estate transaction, and that he backed out only because he could not find another property to buy for himself.
After years of legal wrangling, Lipner in 2023 sided with Perry and ruled that the origin sale contract handled by manager Gudvi on her behalf should be upheld.
It was previously reported that Perry formally took possession of the mansion in May 2024, but according to last week’s bombshell courtroom revelation, it was actually Bloom who acquired the property through an LLC.
Perry then countersued Westcott, claiming damages and lost rental income. The move prompted Westcott’s family to label the A-lister “entitled” and having “zero empathy.”
Perry so far has paid $9 million for the home and wants $6 million knocked off the $15 million sale price, citing damage to the property that required extensive repairs, including a fallen tree and the aftereffects of flooding.
Actor Chris Pratt, who is understood to be renting Perry’s Montecito home with his wife, Katherine Schwarzenneger, while awaiting the completion of their new mansion in Brentwood, has been named as a potential witness in the case by Westcott’s legal team.
The lawyers asked Judge Lipman to allow them to question him “The Guardians of the Galaxy” star, 46, about the condition of the home when he first moved in, according to Fox News.