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In Katy Perry vs. the nuns, a judge rules for Katy Perry

 
Why exactly does Katy Perry want a convent on a hill in Los Angeles so bad? That’s really anyone’s guess.
Associated Press
Why exactly does Katy Perry want a convent on a hill in Los Angeles so bad? That’s really anyone’s guess. Associated Press
Published April 15, 2016

Last year, it was Taylor Swift. This year, it's … elderly nuns.

Katy Perry, who last year found herself in a public spat with Taylor Swift (whose hit song Bad Blood was likely about Perry), has been at the center of a controversy involving the Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and a former convent in Los Angeles.

And this week, a judge ruled against the nuns.

First, the backstory.

The superstar, who danced with a pair of out-of-synch sharks at least year's Super Bowl, wants to buy a former convent that overlooks downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported. Several elderly nuns claim they own the convent and can thus sell it. The archdiocese doesn't see it that way.

Only five members of the Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary remain, ranging in age from 77 to 88, the Associated Press reported.

The order has owned the 8-acre property for more than 40 years, but they haven't lived there for several years. Both the nuns and the archdiocese lay claim to rights to sell the property, which became problematic last May.

That's when two of the sisters decided to sell the convent, and they entered a formal agreement with restaurateur Dana Hollister for $15.5 million, CNN reported.

The problem? The archdiocese didn't approve the sale, and agreed to sell it to Perry for $14.5 million.

So the archdiocese took civil action against the sisters.

"Unfortunately, the Archdiocese had to take civil action to protect against the unauthorized action by Ms. Hollister, which was undertaken after the preferred transaction had been accepted in consultation with the Sisters," the archdiocese said in a statement.

To be sure, the nuns have not said explicitly why they would rather sell the property to Hollister, but Sister Rita Callana told the Los Angeles Times, "Well, I found Katy Perry and I found her videos and … if it's all right to say, I wasn't happy with any of it."

Perry, whose hit songs include I Kissed a Girl and Teenage Dream, is known for provocative music videos. In one example, California Gurls, she wears a bra fashioned out of cupcakes.

Some even call her work blasphemous.

"I thought, is that a way to make money?" Callana said after watching Perry's halftime show. "Maybe I could fly around. I could be the flying nun."

Since Hollister registered a deed for the property, it couldn't be sold to Perry, much to Archbishop Jose H. Gomez's chagrin. And though a Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant said in July he thought the sale to Hollister was invalid, he banned Perry and the archdiocese from visiting the property until the case was resolved.

That finally happened Wednesday, when a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Bowick voided the sale to Hollister, rescinding the deed, the Associated Press reported.

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Needless to say, not everyone is pleased with the ruling.

Nor does it mean Perry's sale is finalized. The transaction, by singer of By the Grace of God, still needs approval from the Vatican.