Amy Winehouse's father loses legal bid for funds friends made selling singer's memorabilia

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LONDON (AP) — A London judge ruled Monday against the father of Amy Winehouse who sued his daughter's friends for profiting off the late singer's memorabilia.

Mitch Winehouse, who was administrator of this daughter's estate, sued Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay in the High Court over the $1.2 million (890,000 pounds) they earned at auction in the U.S. from items he claimed they did not have the right to sell.

Amy Winehouse was 27 when she died from alcohol poisoning in her London house in 2011.

Parry, who was also Winehouse's stylist, and Gourlay said they either owned or were given the 150 items that included dresses, shoes, scarves, earrings and purses.

Parry earned $878,000 — including $243,200 from the silk minidress Winehouse wore at her final performance in Belgrade, Serbia — for the 56 items she sold at Julien's Auctions in Los Angeles in 2021, the court said. Gourley earned $344,000 for 85 items.

Parry applauded the decision by Deputy Judge Sarah Clarke to dismiss Mitch Winehouse's claim that the two were not entitled to sell the items and did so without his knowledge.

“The High Court has cleared my name, unequivocally and in full, after years of deeply damaging and unfounded allegations brought by Mitch Winehouse,” Parry said in a statement. “This was not a partial outcome or a matter of nuance. The claim has failed entirely. It should never have been brought.”