Katy Perry act: What is the new bill launched following star’s house battle with 84-year-old veteran

A new bill called the Katy Perry act has been launched after the pop-star, and her husband, Orlando Bloom, became embroiled in a legal battle with an 84-year-old veteran. The case came about after Carl Wescott sold Perry and Pirates of the Caribbean star Bloom their house back in July 2020 for $15 million (£12.2 million).

Court documents show that Westcott, 84, sold the Santa Barbara house to the celebrity couple when he was heavily medicated on ‘several intoxicating pain-killing opiates’ and actually ‘did not want to sell his home’. It’s reported that the veteran also suffers from Huntington’s Disease - a genetic brain disorder - having been diagnosed eight years ago in 2015.

Court documents from the Los Angeles County Superior Court argue: "The multiple opiate medications, which were a synthetic form of morphine, disoriented and intoxicated [Westcott], depriving him of reason and understanding with respect to the terms and consequences of the contract, and seriously impaired [Westcott’s] mental faculties to the point he was of unsound mind and not competent to give his free, voluntary, or intelligent consent to the contract. The contract that [Westcott] signed to sell his home is therefore void or voidable."

Carl, who is Westcott’s son, along with the rest of his family, are now fronting an act called Protecting Elder Realty for Retirement Years Act, also dubbed ‘The Katy PERRY act’.

Its website states: "The Katy PERRY Act addresses the risks of elder financial abuse, especially as it relates to property and real estate sales and transfers. The Act establishes a 72 hour cool-down period during which either party involved in a contract for conveyance of a personal residence, in which one party is over the age of 75, can rescind the agreement without penalty."