Nun Who Fought Katy Perry In Legal Dispute Dies After Collapsing In Court
A nun who was involved in a lawsuit with pop star Katy Perry over the sale of a convent in Los Angeles died Friday after collapsing during a court appearance, as USA Today has reported.
In a statement, Archbishop Jose Gomez announced the sad death and told the media that Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, 89, had served the church "with dedication and love for many years."
Holzman was a member of a group of elderly nuns involved in a dispute over the sale of their convent in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, Calif.
As RadarOnline.com has reported, this week, Perry just had her $15 million convent property victory frozen in court.
The "Roar" singer and judge on the new American Idol reboot, premiering this Sunday on ABC, had been involved in a lengthy legal battle over the convent in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, which she thought that she had won.
Last year a jury ordered restaurant owner Dana Hollister to pay over $15 million in damages after it was determined that she had interfered in the original sale.
Perry, 33, tried to buy the convent in 2014, but was told by the nuns that owned it that they had already sold it to local entrepreneur Hollister.
Sisters Rita Callanan and Holzman wanted to sell the historic 1920's building to Hollister who owns several star-studded restaurants and bars in Los Angeles.
But Perry disputed the sale in court and a judge decided Hollister knew that the nuns didn't have the authority to sell the property, and ordered her to pay punitive damages.
The jury instructed Hollister to pay $5 million in legal fees, $6.7 million to the Los Angeles archdiocese and another $3.3 million to Perry's company.
But this week it was learned that the multi-millionaire restaurateur has filed for bankruptcy and the entire ruling was put on hold, with the judge asking for a report by May 8.
Hours before her death, Holzman told KTTV about the judge's ruling, which cleared the way for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to sell the convent to Perry, "To Katy Perry, please stop. It's not doing anyone any good except hurting a lot of people."
The singer wanted to buy the 8-acre property and its Roman-villa style buildings for $14.5 million. Although the property was owned by the Archdiocese for more than 40 years, the nuns hadn't lived in the convent for several years.
However, Nun Holzman's unexpected death is bad timing for Perry, as the "Fireworks" singer will be seen this Sunday night as one of the new judges on American Idol alongside Lionel Richie and country star Luke Bryan.
Perry could take a bad PR hit, and as RadarOnline.com has reported, Idol has already been rocked by the sexual harassment allegations against the show's host, Ryan Seacrest (which he has vehemently denied). A source told RadarOnline.com that Idol execs are already freaking out about the cloud over Seacrest impacting the show. https://radaronline.com/videos/ryan-seacrest-sexual-harassment-scandal-worries-american-idol-executives/
Insiders say show bigwigs have also worried about Perry being a $25 million dollar dud.
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