Chris Pratt dragged into Katy Perry’s legal feud with veteran over $15 Million Montecito mansion

Actor Chris Pratt could well be called upon to testify in singer Katy Perry’s bitter legal battle against an ailing veteran whose Montecito, CA, home she purchased five years ago.

Pratt, 46, and his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, 35, are understood to be renting the home in question, having moved into it earlier this year after putting their own sprawling Pacific Palisades mansion on the market.

The couple, who are in the process of building a custom compound in Brentwood, are said to have been loaned the Montecito property by Perry, 40, to use while they wait for their new home to be completed.

Yet it appears that tenancy could well end up causing more trouble than it’s worth—after Pratt was named as a potential witness by defense lawyers for Carl Westcott, the man from whom Perry bought the home—and who she is now suing for up to $6 million in damages.

Perry became engaged in a furious real estate fight with Westcott back in 2020, when she struck a deal to buy his Montecito home for $15 million—only for the entrepreneur to back out just days later, claiming he had been under the influence of painkillers when he agreed to the sale.

“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 stated in court documents.

However, Perry’s representatives argued that Westcott, a business mogul who founded 1-800-Flowers, had been of sound mind when he agreed to the deal and that he only wanted to back out because he hadn’t been able to find an alternative Montecito property to his liking or budget.

Their yearslong legal battle was finally resolved in December 2023, when a judge ruled in Perry’s favor and ordered that the original sale contract—which was arranged via the pop star’s business manager, Bernie Gudvi—should be upheld.

Perry officially took possession of the home in May 2024. The sprawling, 1930s-era, 9,285-square-foot compound sits amongst the Santa Ynez foothills and has eight bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms, a tennis court, two guesthouses, and a pool.

While the ownership of the property has been cemented in court, the “Dark Horse” singer is now seeking up to $6 million in damages from Westcott—a move that has been slammed by his family, who have accused her of having “zero empathy.”

The case is still ongoing and Perry has been called to testify against Westcott in court this month.

While Pratt has not yet been ordered to appear in court, Westcott’s lawyers have asked the judge to question him about the condition of the home when he moved in, according to Fox News—noting that he could provide key evidence to slap down Perry’s claims that significant damage had been done before she officially took ownership of the dwelling.

However, legal expert Christopher C. Melcher notes that Pratt’s potential involvement in the trial hinges on one key point: whether the judge believes the home had not undergone any significant repairs between Perry being given the keys and the actor moving in.

“Westcott’s defense is that the home could not have had mold and other major issues because Perry rented the place to Chris Pratt,” Melcher told Fox News.

“But repairs could have been made by Perry before renting the home to Pratt. 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.”

Realtor.com has contacted Pratt’s spokesperson for comment.

Still, Westcott’s lawyers insist that Pratt is a key witness in their defense, stating in court documents seen by Realtor.com: “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 lawyers also pointed out that Pratt and his wife have been closely linked to the property since Perry first expressed interest in it—calling attention to the fact that she became involved in a bidding war with Schwarzenegger’s mother, Maria Shriver, who was also keen to buy the abode.

Westcott’s legal team has previously failed in its efforts to convince the judge to call Perry’s former fiancé, Orlando Bloom, as a witness—having claimed that he should be asked to testify about the repairs that the singer says had to be carried out on the home after she took over ownership.

However, the judge in the case shut down that request, insisting that the lawyers need only rely on testimony from the contractors who were involved in the process, while accusing the legal team of trying to turn the trial into a “celebrity circus.”

“Why do you need Mr. Bloom to do that, other than to make it a celebrity circus?” Judge Joseph Lipner questioned Westcott’s lawyers in an Aug. 1 hearing, according to Rolling Stone. “Why don’t you just talk to the construction person who actually did it?”

Perry has thus far paid $9 million for the $15 million estate and wants $6 million knocked off the price for various interior and exterior damages, repairs, and lost rental income since the time of the real estate deal.

She reportedly hired a team of 25 experts to look for faults in the home.