The dispute began back in 2015 when the pop star agreed a deal with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to buy a former convent. Things turned sour when, shortly afterwards, a second deal was done for the purchase by Dana Hollister and two nuns that formally lived at the property, in this deal the it was agreed that Hollister would pay a higher amount than the pop star.
A legal battle arose as to who was entitled to purchase the property and which deal should be allowed to complete. Following various court battles and a long journey through the U.S Court system a ruling was made in the pop star’s favour. It should be noted, the Vatican does still need to sign off on the deal.
Whist we now know which deal will stand, we don’t know what will happen to the considerable amount of money that was spent in legal fees. Luckily for us, Katy Perry went back to court to find out, it was argued that Hollister was to reimburse Ms. Perry for her legal fees on the basis that as Hollister already owns a convent and to that end she should know that permission is required from the Archdiocese as opposed to the nuns.
Ms. Perry and the Archdiocese won the costs battle, a second trip back to court saw an award of $5 million in legal fees and $10 million in punitive damages. It is reported that out of the $10 million a third will go to the Archdiocese, a third to the two nuns that occupied the convent and the final third to Ms. Perry’s convent purchasing company.
