Judge sides with Katy Perry as nuns accuse singer of witchcraft

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has sided with Katy Perry in her legal battle with nuns over plans to turn a former Roman Catholic convent into her new home. Perry has been involved in the ongoing battle to gain ownership of the eight-acre property in Los Feliz for the past two years. The singer initially thought that she would be able to buy the former convent from the archdiocese of Los Angeles, run by Archbishop Jose Gomez, and made a $14.5 million (£9.3 million) bid.

However, the five nuns living in the property at the time believed that Perry would be an unsuitable owner and tried to sell it to businesswoman Dana Hollister instead, who wanted to turn it into a hotel. A local Catholic archbishop then argued that it was him and not the nuns who owned the property and that it was his wish to sell the property to Perry.

The Hollywood Reporter now reports that judge Stephanie Bowick ruled on Tuesday 14th March that the nuns “did not have authority to sell the property to Hollister” and “nevertheless failed to validly consummate the transaction. The deal documents were not properly documented.” Bowick upheld a previous ruling made in April 2016. Perry’s bid for the property now needs final approval from the Vatican.

Amid all this, last week saw the nuns accuse Katy Perry of witchcraft, relating to her trip to the Salem Witch Walk in 2014. Sister Rose Catherine Holzman, 86, told the Daily Mail: “I’m sorry but I am just not into witchcraft and I am just not into people who are into witchcraft. It disturbs me, and that was our mother house and our retreat house and it’s sacred ground”.