EXCLUSIVE Katy Perry reignites split rumors with Orlando Bloom by renting out $30M Montecito home to A-list actor

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

Katy Perry has sparked fresh breakup rumors by quietly renting out the home where she and Orlando Bloom had vowed to raise their daughter, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
The Firework singer, 40, took an ailing veteran to court, endured a barrage of ugly headlines and spent a fortune in legal fees to get her hands on the $30million mansion in Montecito, California.
But after winning her years-long battle with 85-year-old Carl Westcott, Perry has handed the keys to actor Chris Pratt – raising fresh questions about the state of her relationship with Bloom, 48.
Sources tell DailyMail.com that Pratt, 46, and his author wife Katherine Schwarzenegger, 35, recently moved into the sprawling estate in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains.
Rental properties in the ritzy enclave – home to Oprah Winfrey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Prince Harry and Meghan Duchess of Sussex – can fetch as much as $120,000 per month.
But the Guardians of the Galaxy hunk needed a temporary base for his spouse and three kids Lyla, four, Eloise, three, and seven-month-old Ford, while they build a new mansion in LA's Brentwood neighborhood.
'The arrangement suits Chris but it's a bit of a surprise given how Katy fought tooth and nail to get her hands on the house,' a source told DailyMail.com.
'She previously suggested it was the ideal place for her and Orlando to raise a family. After all that time, energy and money, it seems unthinkable that they are not going to live in it.'
Sources close to Perry say she intends to live in the house in the future once the short term rental is finished. Her rep declined to comment.
Perry's about-face comes amid rumors that she and Lord of the Rings actor Bloom, parents to four-year-old Daisy Dove Bloom, are about to pull the plug on their six-year engagement.
Recent reporting suggests setbacks in Perry's faltering pop career have seeped into her personal life.
Her latest album 143 was panned as stale and derivative by fans and critics alike, with some calling it her worst release to date.
Sources have also told DailyMail.com that she and Bloom argued bitterly over her widely derided 11-minute Blue Origin trip into space in April.
Recent reporting suggests setbacks in Perry's faltering pop career have seeped into her personal life, effecting her relationship with Bloom and even allegedly leading into an argument over her 11-minute Blue Origin trip to space in April
The flight became a PR disaster when Perry was mocked for her OTT antics including holding up a daisy in zero gravity – a nod to her daughter – and dramatically kissing the earth on touchdown.
She received little to no support from Bloom who blasted the 'embarrassing' debacle during an explosive row, according to our reporting.
'He told her the whole thing looked ridiculous,' a source in Perry's camp told DailyMail.com.
Perry and Orlando met at a Golden Globes after-party in 2016. They split for a year but got engaged on Valentine's Day 2019. Daisy Dove was born August 26, 2020.
The singer already had multiple LA properties but seemed dead set on making Wesctott's eight-bed, Mediterranean-style compound her ultimate family home.
She agreed a $15 million deal to acquire it in July 2020 and was so pleased she wrote to the retired business mogul afterwards to express her 'joy at being able to call it our home.'
The mansion's backyard, equipped with a luxury porch, pool, launch chairs and staggered fountains. Carl Wescott's family attempted to argue that he was not sound of mind due to his medication when he agreed to the deal
Perry and Orlando met at a Golden Globes after-party in 2016. They split for a year but got engaged on Valentine's Day 2019. Daisy Dove was born August 26, 2020
Perry wrote: 'As you know we are expecting a baby next month and know that this will be the best place to bring her home to and raise her in.
'Though there were other properties that did interest us, yours will provide us the comfort of security, privacy and safety.'
The heartfelt message – signed 'Katy and Orlando' – added: 'This home will be a respite, one where we will be able to grow together as a family.'
Relations were less cordial when Westcott, a military veteran with Huntington's Disease, later tried to nix the deal, arguing that his judgment was clouded by powerful medication and ill health when he signed the papers.
'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,' his lawyers argued in the ensuing lawsuit.
Perry was awarded the house but only three years later after a draining, costly court battle which spawned numerous negative headlines for the 13-time Grammy nominee.
To this day the LA County Superior Court has still not resolved multiple legal issues such as how much compensation Westcott owes her, with the hitmaker demanding $6million in 'lost rental value' and alleged damage.
She reportedly hired a team of 25 different experts to look for faults she could use to knock the final price down to $9million.
Westcott had only purchased the home two months prior to his dealings with Perry's representative, Bernie Gudvi, who agreed to pay him $3,750,000 more than the $11.25million he acquired it for.
The then-80-year-old – a veteran of the US Army 101st Airborne known for owning several successful companies, most notably 1-800-Flowers – had been discharged from the hospital only four days prior.
He had undergone a six-hour back operation and was on a potent cocktail of opiates to numb the pain, his lawyers claimed.
When the medication wore off, Westcott decided he'd made a mistake and informed Berkshire Hathaway by email that he no longer intended to sell.
Perry and Bloom's agents rejected Westcott's plea, warning they would sue if he did not relinquish the plush 1930s-built pad, which includes a swimming pool, tennis court and guesthouse.
It wasn't the first time Perry had been entangled in legal problems while purchasing a home.
In 2015, she sparred with elderly Roman Catholic nuns over a convent she bought from Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez for $14.5million in cash.
Sister Rita Callanan and Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, who had lived there since the 70s, claimed Gomez had no right to offload the property, and said they had already sold it weeks prior for $15.5million.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles argued it was the nuns who had exceeded their authority, and a judge agreed, awarding Perry and the Archdiocese combined damages of more than $15million.
The case became notorious when Sister Holzman, 89, collapsed and died during a 2018 court appearance.
Sister Callanan, the surviving nun, said Perry had 'blood on her hands.'