Key Insights

• Katy Perry’s victory: Katy Perry won a court judgment of $1.94 million after a lengthy legal dispute.
• Real estate litigation: The case involved a mansion sale in Montecito, California, against Carl Wescott.
• Contract issues: Wescott was penalized for attempting to back out of the sale contract.
• Financial implications: Perry’s final payment obligation is now reduced to $4 million.

Katy Perry has been awarded a court judgment of $1.94 million after more than five years of warring with a Texas millionaire over the sale of a mansion in Montecito, Calif.

The Los Angeles court ruling, entered on Dec. 30, ends the long real estate litigation between Perry and 1800Flowers founder Carl Wescott. Judge Joseph Lipner says that as a penalty for improperly trying to back out of their sale contract, Wescott must deduct nearly $2 million from the $15 million purchase price he and Perry agreed to back in 2020.

The saga began in July 2020 when Perry inked a $15 million contract to buy the 9,285-square-foot Montecito home through her business manager, Bernie Gudvi. A month later, Wescott sued Gudvi to invalidate the deal, claiming painkillers from a recent back surgery had made him too foggy to properly consent.

Years of litigation ensued, and a first-phase trial was held before a Los Angeles judge in 2023. Judge Lipner ruled that Wescott was indeed in his right mind when he made the deal, noting that the Texas businessman was cogent in communications with a real estate agent and had rejected a lower offer from former California First Lady Maria Shriver just days before selling to Perry.

A second-phase bench trial was held over a series of days in August and October to decide financial penalties. Judge Lipner tentatively arrived at a $1.84 million judgment in November, then bumped the number up to $1.94 million on Dec. 30 after Perry’s team pointed out math errors.

The final number mainly represents the amount of money Perry could have earned if she’d been able to rent out the Montecito house during the years-long legal battle when it was sitting empty.

“There is no reason to believe that this unique and attractive property would not rent for all 43 months,” wrote the judge in his opinion.

Perry’s reps have already paid $9 million to Wescott out of the original $15 million purchase price. As a result of this ruling, they’ll now only have to pay $4 million more, for a total of $13 million.

Reps for Perry, Gudvi and Wescott did not immediately return requests for comment on Tuesday (Jan. 6).