- Amy Winehouse’s father says he is owed £730,000 from her two friends
- Naomi Perry and Catriona Gourlay kept the profits from a sale of her belongings
- They are now duking it out in legal battle in the High Court
Amy Winehouse’s father has locked horns with two of his late daughter’s friends, who he has accused of keeping £730,000 in profit from a sale of her belongings, including bras, underwear and makeup.
Mitch Winehouse, 73, says Naomi Perry and Catriona Gourlay kept the profits from the £3.3 million sale of her belongings that took place in the US in 2021, following the legendary singer’s death ten years prior.
Naomi and Catriona, who was rumoured to be Amy’s lover before her death, said they were ‘generously gifted’ the items by Amy with Mitch’s ‘full knowledge and cooperation.’
But the Amy Winehouse Estate said it ‘has questioned how these items came into their possession and has not had satisfactory answers’, adding it launched the High Court bid to ‘clarify the situation.’
Perry and Gourlay have responded to 156 questions about the items sold in London’s High Court, revealing what each item was worth.
The Sun reported that items sold include the dress she wore at her final performance before her death in 2011, which coroners determined was caused by alcohol.
Also sold at the auction were at least two bras worn by the Black to Black singer, as well as several makeup items she used.
Former cab driver Mitch said he wants the £730,000 taken by Perry and Gourlay should be paid to the foundation set up in the singer’s memory.
Perry and Gourlay said in an Instagram post that the legal costs have drained much of the money they made from the sale, and they said that the £730,000 figure is ‘significantly exaggerated.’
They said that Mitch agreed to Perry and Gourlay undertaking project that saw a book about Amy’s life, as well as a number of exhibitions, that garnered significant media attention.
They said: ‘Upon the project’s completion, [we] decided to part ways with some items from our collection.’
It was after this sale, they said, that Mitch launched a ‘legal campaign’ against the pair, which has had a ‘profound impact’ on them ‘personally, professionally and financially.’
The legal spat comes just a few days after the first trailer for the controversial Amy Winehouse biopic dropped, ahead of its UK release in April.
Actress Marisa Abela plays the role of the late singer-songwriter with scenes depicting her tumultuous marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil (played by Jack O’Connell).
Blake, who was wed to the singer between 2007 and 2009, previously admitted introducing her to heroin and is seen by many of her fans as partly responsible for her death from alcohol poisoning aged just 27 in 2011.
In the trailer, Amy declares she wants to be known for more than her singing and her desperation to be a mother, before sadly dying childless.
In one emotional scene she describes Blake as ‘her life and soul’ before their on/off relationship inspires her to write the iconic track Back To Black.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
