Amy Winehouse’s father loses High Court challenge over daughter’s former belongings | Ents & Arts News

Amy Winehouse’s father has lost a High Court claim against two of the star’s friends over the sale of items she once owned.

Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning in July 2011, aged 27.

Mitch Winehouse, acting as the administrator of his daughter’s estate, claimed her stylist Naomi Parry and friend Catriona Gourlay profited from selling dozens of items at auctions in the US in 2021 and 2023.

Suing them for hundreds of thousands of pounds at the High Court, his lawyers told a trial in December that the two women did not inform him they were selling the items.

He said the legal proceedings were his “only means of obtaining answers”.

Ms Parry and Ms Gourlay defended the claim, with their barristers telling the court the items were either gifted by the star or that they already owned them.

In a judgment handed down on Monday, Deputy High Court judge Sarah Clarke KC said: “I find that neither Ms Parry nor Ms Gourlay deliberately concealed any of their disputed items from the claimant and even if I am wrong about that, Mr Winehouse could have discovered what disputed items the defendants had with reasonable diligence.”

What happened in court?

During the trial, lawyers for Ms Parry accused Mr Winehouse of bringing the claim out of “petty jealousy”, which he denied.

He said he thought the money from the 2021 auction would be split between the Amy Winehouse Foundation (AWF), himself, and the singer’s mother, Janis.

The court heard the auction catalogue contained 834 items and that the sale raised $1.4m dollars (£1.05m) for the star’s estate, 30% of which went to the foundation.

One item sold by Ms Parry included a silk mini-dress worn during the singer’s final performance in Belgrade, Serbia, which was auctioned for $243,200 (£182,656).

Ms Parry told the court Mr Winehouse had offered her $250,000 (£187,000) for the proceeds of her sale and to make the legal claim go away, but that she would “rather set the money on fire than give him a penny”.

Judge Clarke said Mr Winehouse had “suffered a great tragedy in the loss of his daughter”, and that since her death he had “worked hard to keep her memory alive” – including through the foundation.

“It is also the case that Amy’s estate, including in particular the royalties from Back To Black, has made Mr Winehouse personally extremely wealthy,” the judge continued.

“Mr Winehouse is therefore understandably sensitive about anyone who he perceives as exploiting Amy’s memory, particularly for financial gain, and he is keen to promote the AWF, but also, in my judgment, he is equally sensitive about ensuring that the family continue to benefit financially.”

Read more from Sky News:
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Back To Black stars on love, loss and ‘evil’ of addiction

In a statement through her lawyers, Naomi Parry said after the ruling that the High Court had cleared her name “unequivocally and in full, after years of deeply damaging and unfounded allegations”.

“I stood beside Amy as a friend, a creative partner, and her costume designer,” she said. “What we shared was built on trust, loyalty, and a genuine love of the work. To see that relationship misrepresented so publicly has been both painful and profoundly unjust.”

Winehouse, one of the defining talents of her generation, became a household name with her second album, the multiplatinum-selling Back To Black.

She was known for songs including Rehab, Love Is A Losing Game, Tears Dry On Their Own and the album’s hit titular track, along with her cover of The Zutons’ Valerie with Mark Ronson.

She won six Grammys and three Ivor Novello awards for her music and songwriting and a biopic about her life and career, also titled Back To Black and starring Marisa Abela, was released in 2024.