It sounds like a rejected script for a dark comedy. A pop star known for candy-coated music videos and "I Kissed a Girl" ends up in a years-long legal battle with elderly nuns over an 8-acre estate in Los Feliz. But the story of how Katy Perry sues nuns—or rather, became the central figure in a messy property war—is a lot more complicated than the headlines made it out to be.
It wasn’t just a rich celebrity bullying some sisters. Honestly, it was a weird cocktail of church hierarchy, real estate greed, and a clash of cultures that literally ended in tragedy.
The Convent at the Center of the Storm
The property in question is a stunning Roman villa-style estate on Waverly Drive in Los Angeles. It was once the home of the Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. By 2014, there were only five sisters left in the order. They were in their 70s and 80s, and they hadn't actually lived in the convent since 2011, when the Archdiocese of Los Angeles essentially forced them out because the building was too expensive to maintain.
Katy Perry wanted it. She offered $14.5 million in cash.
The Archbishop of Los Angeles, José Gomez, liked that offer. But the nuns? Not so much. They had already looked up Perry’s music videos, and they didn’t like what they saw. One of the sisters, Catherine Rose Holzman, famously told the press that Perry represented "everything we don't believe in." To them, selling the sacred grounds to a pop star was a "sin."
The "Oh Happy Day" Charm Offensive
In an attempt to win them over, Perry actually met with the sisters. She reportedly showed them a Jesus tattoo on her wrist and sang the hymn "Oh Happy Day" to prove her Christian roots (her parents are evangelical ministers).
It didn't work.
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Instead, the nuns tried to sell the property behind the Archbishop’s back to a local restaurateur named Dana Hollister for $15.5 million. The problem? Hollister only put down $100,000 in cash, with the rest basically being a promissory note. The Archdiocese claimed the sisters didn't have the legal right to sell the property—only the Archbishop did.
Why the Legal Fight Got So Ugly
This is where the katy perry sues nuns narrative gets slightly twisted. Technically, the Archdiocese and Perry’s company, Bird Nest LLC, sued Dana Hollister for interfering with the sale. They argued she had "clouded" the title and tricked the elderly nuns into a deal they couldn't legally make.
The court battle dragged on for years. The legal questions were dense:
- Who actually owned the deed to the property?
- Did the nuns have "canonical" authority to sell?
- Was Dana Hollister taking advantage of the sisters?
In 2016, a judge finally ruled that the sale to Hollister was invalid. That should have been the end of it, but the drama was just getting started.
A Tragic Day in Court
In 2018, things took a dark turn. Sister Catherine Rose Holzman, who had been one of the most vocal opponents of the sale, collapsed and died right in the middle of a court proceeding related to the case. She was 89 years old.
Hours before she passed away, she had spoken to a local news station, pleading, "Katy Perry, please stop. It's not doing anyone any good except hurting a lot of people."
It was a PR nightmare. The optics were terrible: a young, wealthy pop star vs. a dying nun. While Perry wasn't personally in the room when it happened, her name was forever tied to the tragic conclusion of the dispute.
The $10 Million Verdict
By the end of the litigation, a jury found that Dana Hollister had acted with "malice, fraud, or oppression." She was ordered to pay roughly $10 million in punitive damages, split between the Archdiocese and Katy Perry’s company.
Hollister eventually declared bankruptcy.
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You’d think after all that, Perry would finally move in and start remodeling. But surprisingly, she never did. By 2026, the property remains a strange monument to one of the most bizarre real estate disputes in California history. Perry eventually moved on to other massive real estate deals, including a controversial $15 million estate in Montecito that also ended in a lawsuit (this time involving an elderly veteran).
What We Can Learn From the Chaos
If you’re looking at the katy perry sues nuns situation as a lesson, it’s mostly about the importance of clear titles and understanding who actually has the right to sign a contract.
- Verify Title Ownership: Never assume the person living in or managing a property actually owns the right to sell it. In this case, the Vatican and the Archdiocese had the final word, not the residents.
- Reputation Management: For high-profile buyers, sometimes winning the legal battle isn't worth the hit to your reputation. Even if Perry was legally in the right, the public perception was often "Celebrity vs. Nuns."
- The Risks of "Creative" Real Estate: Dana Hollister’s attempt to bypass the church hierarchy resulted in a $10 million judgment and bankruptcy. Following the established legal path for commercial or church-owned property is non-negotiable.
The Los Feliz convent still sits on that hill, a silent witness to a battle that involved gospel songs, Jesus tattoos, and a level of legal drama that outlasted the careers of many of Perry's peers. It serves as a reminder that in Los Angeles, even a house of prayer isn't safe from the grit of a real estate war.
If you are tracking these types of high-stakes celebrity property disputes, you should pay close attention to the "Perry Act" (or similar proposed legislation) which focuses on protecting elderly sellers in real estate transactions, a direct fallout from Perry's subsequent legal battles.