In 2015 Katy Perry entered into a legal battle with nuns, Sister Rita Callanan and the now late Sister Catherine Rose Holzman who passed away on Friday. The legal battle were and still are for the rights over a former convent in Los Angeles and also included local restaurateur and aspiring developer Dana Hollister.
The legal battle, which has spanned three years now, began when Perry put in an offer to purchase the convent as she wanted to transform it into a home and rehearsal studio. Archbishop José Gomez agreed to the sale. Upon learning of this, the nuns from The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary claimed the LA Archdiocese didn’t have the rights to sell the Los Feliz convent to Perry for $14.5 million. Instead, the sisters wanted to sell the property to Hollister who intended to turn the convent into a boutique hotel. The two sisters, who are of the original five, have always claimed to be the rightful owners of the convent having lived their since 1973 until their leave in 2011. They also claimed to possess property documents.
Prior to all the court proceedings, Perry met with Sister Callanan and Sister Holzman by invitation of Archbishop José at the convent and sung “Oh Happy Day” to them. She also dressed conservatively and showed them her Jesus tattoo. However, the sisters preferred Hollister’s offer as it was more at $15.5 million and they had a stronger bond with her. They also disapproved of Perry’s sometimes ‘revealing’ outfits on stage.
In a recent documentary created to tell more of the sisters’ side, they revealed they approached Hollister themselves to help save the convent as maintenance costs were high. The convent boasts a fish-shaped swimming pool, gardens, and fountains. However, in a strange twist of events Hollister was found guilty of fraud because she allegedly interfered with the sale process. Hollister was fined $15 million in damages to Perry’s lawyers and the LA Archdiocese.
Today, Fox 11 reported Sister Holzman collapsed during a related court proceeding. Just that day, Sister Holzman had been interviewed by a Fox 11 reporter, Stephanie Stanton, where she asked for help from Pope Francis and for Perry to “please stop” as her continual involvement has “hurt a lot of people”.
You can watch a snippet of the documentary below.
