Katy Perry wants to buy an LA convent, but nuns are fighting to keep her out

Katy Perry

Katy Perry is looking to purchase a former convent in Los Feliz. She so badly wants this property that she’s offered to pay $14.5 million in cash. The only hangup? Perry’s battling with the elderly Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to purchase the property. The Sisters say they own the property, and they sold it for $15.5 million to a restauranteur a few weeks ago. They made a quick sale to keep the convent out of Katy’s hands. Unfortunately, the archdiocese wants Katy to own the property, so legal paperwork is in process.

Katy started pursuing the former convent, which features “spectacular” views of Los Angeles, three years ago. It sounds like she became interested in the place right after she and Russell Brand split. Katy wants to live there with her mom and grandma. Will Katy’s father live there too? Who knows, but the nuns who currently live there aren’t happy about Katy’s image messing up their sacred land:

Perry seems to have given her all in going after the property, and tried to make a good impression on the nuns at a recent meeting. I’m told that Perry dressed rather conservatively, and according to two of the sisters, she sang “Oh Happy Day” for them and showed them a “Jesus” tattoo on her wrist area. I would have advised her to sing “Kumbayah,” but I’m not in the entourage.

The nuns shrugged, and there have been no happy days since. Just lots of accusations, disagreements and legal filings. Lawyers can’t even agree on who represents the nuns. The nuns knew the archbishop had lined up a buyer who was supposed to be a famous performer, but the name didn’t mean anything to the sisters, who range in age from 77 to 88. So Sister Rita [Callahan] did a little research on the Internet.

“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,” said Sister Rita, who told me she would rather not elaborate on her concerns as to whether Perry is a suitable candidate to live in a convent.

When Sister Rita learned that Perry would be performing during the Super Bowl halftime, she tuned in. Perry sang “Teenage Dream,” (Let you put your hands on me. In my skin-tight jeans.) which was not a good choice, given Sister Rita’s careful monitoring of the show. Sister Rita then watched as Perry was lifted off the ground and flew around the stadium as if riding a shooting star.

“I thought, is that a way to make money?” said Sister Rita. “Maybe I could fly around. I could be the flying nun.”

[From LA Times]

Of course Katy flashed her “Jesus” tattoo! She also reportedly told the nuns that she wanted to “sit in the meditation garden, drink green tea and ‘find herself.’” Katy’s such a wishy-washy mess. She should have simply taken a lowkey tour of the property and then sent agents to complete the sale instead of showing off her tattoo. These poor nuns have already watched Katy’s Super Bowl performance. Isn’t that enough suffering?

Katy Perry

Katy Perry

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet & WENN

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60 Responses to “Katy Perry wants to buy an LA convent, but nuns are fighting to keep her out”

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  1. Who ARE these people? says:

    No words. Only imagined visuals.

    • Detritus says:

      Just think of the awkwardness!
      This makes me like Katy more, I love a good social mistake. She went in all expecting to wow them. Look I have a Jesus tatoo! look I can sing! She totally misread the situation.

      If Taylor Swift was really commiting to this grudge, the competing restaurant would be owned by a holding company of hers.

    • Miffy says:

      Stunning imagined visuals. I’m imagining an episode of Father Ted featuring Katy Perry (I’m not sure if anyone who isn’t Irish, British or Australian is familiar with Father Ted but that’s what’s coming to mind)

      • Caz says:

        Hehe at the Father Ted reference.

        This story doesn’t make sense…a property can’t be sold twice. Katy tried to convert them by singing?

  2. NewWester says:

    If Katy is not allowed to purchase the property, I can just imagine what outfit she will wear in concert. Dressed as a nun but all sparkly material and at just the right moment she will rip open the outfit to allow fireworks or whipping cream to shoot out from her bra. Just watch

  3. Messenger says:

    this evokes images of the Decameron …get thee to a nunnery katie…..

  4. Mispronounced Name Dropper says:

    Team nun.
    I think Katie’s banality is evil too.

  5. GoodNamesAllTaken says:

    Typical that the nuns own the property but aren’t allowed to sell it to the person of their choice.

    • Kiddo says:

      I don’t really understand any of this. How would the nuns own the property? Wouldn’t it have been the church that purchased the property? I’m thinking it would make more sense in terms of property tax exemption.

      • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

        I don’t know. Maybe they form a corporation that owns it? There was a monastery near me and the brothers or friars or monks, can’t remember which, owned it. They went bankrupt and had to sell it. I’m not Catholic, so I don’t know how it works. I just think most religions, mine often included, ignore women.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        Real estate owned by religious orders gets all tied up in trusts that can involve local parishes or archdioceses and numerous sign-offs are required for any sale or change in the use of the property.

      • Kiddo says:

        It’s very perplexing, I don’t get it. Usually, I’m team-nuns, when they come out and speak on behalf of the disenfranchised and maligned within the church, but in this circumstance, I don’t know. It just seems unnecessarily bitchy to pull the rug out from the sale because they don’t like Katy. That sounds incredibly judge-y, because they thought her act was unbecoming or something or other.

        If that’s how it went down. If it didn’t go down that way, then I don’t get why the church would want to take a MIL less than what the nuns had worked out. They could certainly use the money with a declining base and less donations.
        On the upside; either way, ratables for the locals and county, I guess.

        ETA: Since you have your own fashion line, can you please explain to me that guy’s mishmash outfit of the Golden Girls plus early nineteenth-century women’s shoes?

        ETA, more: Thanks Lilac

      • inthekitchen says:

        @kiddo – what I read was that the nuns said they all pooled their money decades ago and bought it, so they are the owners. But I don’t really get the whole situation because if that was the case then you’d think the paperwork would show they own it. But maybe they aren’t allowed to own property once they become a nun?

      • Kiddo says:

        inthekitchen, I’m guessing it’s what Lilac said in terms of the convent being supported by church trusts? Unless they had some kind of winery or jam production, or something or other to make income to keep the place up, I think the church probably supplemented all of their needs on the property, but I know nothing.

        ETA: lili below, explained why the church might have been opposed to the other potential buyer, since she likes to commercialize property.

      • Viv says:

        Exactly Kiddo, and they want to turn it into a restaurant instead? so some *slutty* pop star can’t defile it with her tea drinking in the gardens? Katy Perry is on the cover of Forbes as the highest female earner this year, I’m sure she can outbid a restaurateur.

        I doubt a handful of nuns own a $15mil property anyway. Something in the milk ain’t clean.

      • anne_000 says:

        Decades ago, the previous owners sold it to the nuns at a discount.

        There’s 5 nuns who own the property. They’re in their 70s and 80s now. Three of them signed over the rights to sell to the archdiocese. Now there’s allegations that those three were coerced or did not fully understand what they were signing away.

        The two who didn’t sign said they’ve already sold the property to Hollister a couple of weeks or so ago.

        So now there’s lawyers involved in trying to get the court to determine who exactly has the right to sell the property.

      • Kiddo says:

        Good info, thanks anne_000

    • Pinky says:

      Taylor Swift wins again. She can buy and sell property like nobody’s business, and nobody knows she owns it until it’s a done deal. Katy, you stoopid!

  6. lili says:

    The nuns want to sell the convent to Dana Hollister?JK. I think the neighbors are going to be team KP on this one.. Dana is notorious for turning old convert/church into some flashy hotel/bar/nightclub thingy.

    • Kiddo says:

      Interesting.

      • lili says:

        she tried to turn an old church in silver lakes into a boutique hotel, the project has been dragged on for years due to opposition from the community. . IMO that’s probably one of the reasons why the church wants to sell it to katy for less, she is the less problematic one and she has no plans to commercialize the convent.

      • Kiddo says:

        Thanks lili.

    • ab says:

      this is what I read somewhere else. everyone is jumping on the katy vs the nuns angle, but the neighborhood is actually rooting for katy because they don’t want dana hollister to swoop in and turn the place into a hotel or restaurant.

      I do think it’s kind of hilarious how judgy the nuns are being about katy though!

    • Ctkat1 says:

      A bunch of the neighbors commented on the LA Times article and they are firmly team Katy. Dana Hollister has already publicly said she’s thinking of turning the property into a restaurant/boutique hotel.

  7. melior says:

    lol this is the funniest shit I’ve read on celebitchy in a while

    • Snazzy says:

      Between this and the EL James story it’s a wonderful day for Celebitches everywhere

  8. Rhiley says:

    I don’t care so much about the convent stuff, but I am angered that Katie is trying to pull off some kind of Amy Winehouse vibe. Amy was a tragic figure, a mess, but she was also a brilliant singer and her identity was all her own. Katie Perry has no originality. She steals from others and gives no credit, starting with “I Kissed a Girl.”

    • Kiddo says:

      If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t get a Winehouse vibe at all; until you mentioned this, where, if I squint really hard, I might almost imagine it with the hair, but not really.

    • Irene says:

      ….Wait, because of the hair?

      Amy Winehouse didn’t invent the bee-hive bouffant/winged liner thing. It’s a pretty standard look from the 60’s.

    • Miffy says:

      Amy Winehouse, while talented, was by no means original. She latched on with both hands to the 50’s-60’s kitsch vibe and sang about drugs and sex… Nothing there is original. She took things like the beehive and flicked eyeliner to cartoonish extremes but that’s about the height of her original ideas. So let’s not bash Katy Perry for her lack of originality for wearing a very popular hairstyle once sported by someone who ALSO copied the ass off her own material and image.

    • Rhiley says:

      I get that Amy was by no means the first to sport a beehive- hello, Marge Simpson!- but I do think it is deliberate on Katy Perry’s part to mimic that style days before the Amy Winehouse documentary is to be released. And Amy Winehouse, while influenced by the girl groups of the sixties, and perhaps a little Carol King from the 70s, was an original. She took a style of music and added her own creative elements to it. Very few singers coming up today can match her.

      • taxi says:

        I doubt Katy Perry pays much attention to the release date for a Winehouse documentary.

  9. lucy2 says:

    What’s gross is someone that mediocre has $14.5 million in cash sitting around!

    I bet that her singing for them was not as effective as she imagined it would be, unless she was trying to hurt their ears. Each song of hers I hear is progressively more shouty.

  10. G says:

    Katy Perry seems like such a weird person. I cannot imagine having a normal conversation with her. She seems like she is ‘on’ all the time. I can imagine chilling with Taylor Swift, as much as her famous friend pimping annoys me, but Katy? I feel like she has a lot of ‘issues’ and i also think she will have trouble staying relevant as she gets older. A 40 year old blowing bubbles is not cute. Also, that nose ring is fug!

    This story is pretty funny though! GO SISTERS!!

    • Kiddo says:

      Katy may be not be the sharpest bulb in the crayon box, but she’s much less calculating than Swift. All in all, I’d rather spend time with the crayons.

      • We Are All Made of Stars says:

        Count me in. While I’m sure Katy has some persona going on as much as the rest of them, I think if you look back at her over her pre-fame years, you’ll see that a lot of that oddness is really genuine. Swift’s persona on the other hand…not so much.

  11. Lilacflowers says:

    But what did the good sisters think of Left Shark?

  12. Nashville girl says:

    Headline made me laugh

  13. Size Does Matter says:

    I read Katy’s claim to the nuns that she wanted to sit in the garden, drink green tea, and “find herself” as she wanted to sit in the garden, drink green tea, and “touch herself.” Definitely the wrong angle to take with the good sisters.

    • FLORC says:

      That! I’m in shock she spoke like this and acted like this to nuns. Nuns! Scary, guilty in inducing NUNS! I’ll see a few at my local farmers market and always get a bit nervous. I handle priests better than nuns outside fo churches. I’m not even a practicing catholic anymore.

  14. Jb says:

    How do you solve a problem like Katy Perryyyyyyy *singsong mode*

    😛

    • Lynnie says:

      🎶How do you catch a firework and pin it downnnnnn🎶

    • We Are All Made of Stars says:

      She sings with Yeez and has double Ds, her dress has got a tear,
      She flashes a@# on her way to Mass, her costumes really scare,
      And underneath her wimple, she has green and purple hair,
      I even heard her singing in The Abbey…
      No surprise to seeee herrr therrre!

  15. InvaderTak says:

    Moschino is so gauche. That’s all I got.

  16. Lynnie says:

    I have a feeling Katy is going to be one of those celebrities who doesn’t age well looks wise

  17. EscapedConvent says:

    The Sisters of Long-Suffering Bile (my Order) have called an emergency meeting, and we have agreed that if those biddies in Los Feliz won’t sell Katy their Convent, she is welcome to purchase ours. She’ll have to move to 14th century France, and none of us will move out, but those are the terms.

    I regret that I don’t have a nun emoticon….

  18. kri says:

    Left Shark would have totally sealed that deal. Unfortunately, he has retired to an atoll and cannot be reached. Those poor nuns, having to see her Jesus tattoo. For that matter, poor Jesus. Ugh, Katy Perry.

  19. ataylor says:

    Ha ha. My older cousin was one of SS Rita’s former students. She’s a tough bird to crack. Good luck Katy and the Archdioces. I think the issue also involves a long time lease issue with a priest/deacon prayer retreat building on site or nearby the property.

  20. Mean Hannah says:

    I cannot stand Katy Perry as a person and as a “recording artist” and “performer.” However, the nuns are being shitty here. They are basically saying that Katy is a loose woman and that’s why they don’t want to sell to her. It wasn’t that long ago that people wouldn’t rent or sell to single women or divorced women. Maybe the nuns should look into what kind of life the restauranteur or hotelier leads, too. You know, research, love thy neighbor, and all.

    • Miffy says:

      Welcome to the world of nuns, friend.
      Convent primary and secondary -elementary and high school to the non Irish- alumni here. Some of them were the cruelest bitches you’ll ever meet. Sure it was only some of them but those bad experiences are the ones that burn into your memory. I was in second grade when our principal nun came in to accuse a girl in my class of being a ‘slut’ (direct quote). SECOND GRADE!!
      So good luck, Katy. Show them your tattoo again. That’ll show ’em.

      • EscapedConvent says:

        I don’t think we ever really get over the nun treatment, do we, Miffy? I went to a Convent school too, and the nightmares have lasted for decades. Imagine calling a second grade child a slut!

        So they’ve inspired me to ridicule those crazy dames every chance I get. Lots of fun!

      • Miffy says:

        When you’re the far side of it, you realise just HOW MUCH comic material you’ve been left with! It is an utterly bizarre lifestyle/calling/profession when you think about it.
        ‘Hey! Wanna live a life of servitude to Jesus and the clergy and live in a house with a bunch of other women with no independence?’ ‘Yeah! Sure! Sign me up!’

    • FLORC says:

      I wonder if it’s more because she made a big show if it all. And showing her jesus tattoo… That’s less of low moral behavior and more of (imo) belittling their commitment to their faith. That she is on par with them for having a jesus tattoo? No Katy. Not the same.
      She was just disrespectful all around and that (again imo) was what sealed the decision.
      For example. Would you sell your home that you likely loved for ages to someone acting like Katy? I doubt it. Certainly not when you had other offers in the same price range.

      Miffy
      I was raised catholic. My father told me horror stories of the scary nuns from a private school and he was left handed. They didn’t break him of that. And I attended a camp run by nuns to see if you wanted to become one. To this day I am terrified. Still, I think they refused Katy for the same reasons we all would.

      • Miffy says:

        I automatically wince when I hear of left-handed kids and nuns. You’re poor dad 🙁 And that camp sounds nightmarish!
        I’m not going full blown anti-Catholic here (or I certainly don’t hope it comes across that way) but hearing about nuns being judgey gives me Nam-style flashbacks.