Katy Perry wins battle with Catholic nuns over Los Feliz convent

Waverly Place convent and Katy Perry (Google Maps/Getty Images)
Waverly Place convent and Katy Perry (Google Maps/Getty Images)

“I am the champion, and you’re gonna hear me roar,” Katy Perry croons in one of her most famous pop songs. But who knew the song would apply to her drawn-out fight with a group of nuns in Los Angeles?

An L.A. judge ruled Thursday that the singer can convert a Los Feliz convent into her personal estate, allowing Perry to finally close on her deal to purchase the $14.5 million property.

The ruling ends a two-year battle between Katy Perry and Sisters Rita Callanan and Catherine Rose Holzman over the sale of the eight-acre Waverly Drive property, the Hollywood Reporter reported.

Perry first tried to purchase the property from the Archbishop of Los Angeles for $14.5 million in 2015.

Prior to the sale closing, Sisters Callanan and Holzman claimed they were the rightful owners of the property and were in talks to sell it to restaurateur Dana Hollister.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

By signing up, you agree to TheRealDeal Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

What followed was a bitter fight between both parties with several of the nuns allegedly accusing Perry of engaging in witchcraft, according to THR.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie Bowick wrote in a ruling that the sisters didn’t have the authority to sell the property to Hollister.

“Even assuming that the Sisters had the authority to dispose of the Property, which they did not, they nevertheless failed to validly consummate the transaction,” Bowick wrote. “The deal documents were not properly documented.”

The Archdiocese of L.A. said it was forced to take legal action in 2015 on behalf of all the Sisters after Hollister took over the property without authorization for $44,000 and no guarantee of additional payment, according to THR.

Perry now needs a final approval from the Vatican. [THR]Subrina Hudson