Chris Pratt has been named as a potential witness in Katy Perry’s ongoing legal battle with the former owner of her $15 million Montecito mansion.
In July 2020, the “Firework” pop star, 40, and her now-ex Orlando Bloom purchased the sprawling, 8.9-acre estate from 86-year-old Carl Westcott, the founder of 1-800-Flowers. However, shortly afterward, Westcott tried to back out of the deal, claiming he was mentally incapacitated when he sold them the property. Perry and Westcott have been locked in a bitter 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.
The trial, which picked up again Thursday, has now entered the damages phase.
Perry, who in 2024 paid $9 million in escrow once she gained ownership of the home, is seeking the remaining $6 million in damages from Westcott. She has claimed that in the four years she had to wait to take control of the house, she lost $3 million 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 $2.29 million 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.
While Pratt, who has been renting and residing in the property with his family, has not yet been deposed, Westcott’s legal team has reportedly asked the judge to question the Guardians of the Galaxy actor about the mansion’s supposed damages.
Court documents filed July 31 by Westcott and seen by Fox News Digital stated: “Now, just before the Phase 2 Trial, there is new, never-before disclosed evidence that Perry has rented out the Westcott Property to the actor Chris Pratt and his wife (the daughter of Maria Shriver, who the Court will recall from Cristal Clarke’s Phase 1 Trial testimony 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).
“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).”
The Independent has contacted Pratt’s representative for further comment.
Speaking to the publication about the case, legal expert Christopher C. Melcher explained: “Westcott’s defense is that the home could not have had mold and other major issues because Perry rented the place to Chris Pratt.
“But repairs could have been made by Perry before renting the home to Pratt,” he noted. “If so, the subsequent condition of the home when Pratt was a tenant is not relevant to what the home looked like when Perry got the keys.”
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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. “Why don’t you just talk to the construction person who actually did it?”
