The mother of pop star Vanessa Amorosi has broken down crying as she told a court her daughter cut her from her life and she’s “never met my grandson”.
Joyleen Robinson took the stand in Victoria’s Supreme Court on Tuesday to give evidence at a civil trial between her and her daughter.
Ms Amorosi is suing her mother over the ownership of two properties bought with her music career income, while Mrs Robinson is countersuing, asking the court to enforce a “kitchen agreement” she claims she made with her daughter – which the singer has repeatedly denied.
The case centres around an 8ha Narre Warren property in Melbourne’s southeast, where Mrs Robinson has lived for more than 20 years, and Ms Amorosi’s home in California.
Both are owned by family trusts that list both women as joint owners.
Ms Amorosi has asked the court to give her full ownership of the properties, while Mrs Robinson wants to take the Narre Warren property for herself and have her daughter take the California home and associated mortgage.
In emotional testimony to the court, Mrs Robinson said she was approached by her daughter in about 2001 with the offer to buy her a home as the pop star’s career was taking off.
She said she would never accept that much money from her, so they allegedly agreed she would repay the $650,000 purchase price when Ms Amorosi needed the money.
“My daughter and I were best friends, there were never any worries about money,” Mrs Robinson said.
“I loved her and still love her – that’s the heartbreaking part.”
Ms Amorosi, on the other hand, told the court that she was in the market for her first home when her mother called, saying she had found her “dream home”.
“When I saw it, I was a little disappointed. I didn’t want a massive house like that,” she said.
The court was told the Narre Warren home was bought in 2001 and the whole family, including Ms Amorosi’s siblings, moved in.
The singer moved out a few years later to acreage in Officer and moved to California for a boyfriend and career opportunities in 2011.
According to Ms Amorosi, her mum took control of her finances early in her career, setting up a series of companies and trusts, because she was worried about others stealing the money.
Over the years, Ms Amorosi claimed, multiple properties had been bought and sold but she had no idea what happened with the money.
She said she trusted her mother “completely” but issues began to surface in 2014 when she was told she couldn’t afford to keep her first home near Los Angeles.
“I wouldn’t get the answers to what had really gone down and why I was losing my house,” Ms Amorosi said.
“I asked her to show me where the money had gone. (She said) I spent it all … it started a war between the family.”
In court, she accused her mother of being “very generous with my money”.
Ms Robinson told the court that she was “not very smart” when it came to finances and had relied on accountants and financial advisers to protect her daughter’s interests.
She said after the singer moved to America in 2011 she stepped back and an American business manager took over handling Ms Amorosi’s affairs.
Mrs Robinson claimed after her daughter got into financial trouble in 2014 she sold the home they’d lived in prior to the Narre Warren property and paid $710,000 into Ms Amorosi’s trust – fulfilling her end of the alleged “kitchen agreement”.
“I thought it (the Narre Warren property) was mine, I put a lot of money into that house over the years,” she said.
“Why would I do that if I didn’t think it was mine?”
Ms Robinson began crying as she told the court her daughter cut her out of her life around 2015 amid accusations of financial mismanagement.
“I’ve never even met my grandson and I learned his name in the newspaper,” she said.
“Vanessa and I were so close, I was broken – I’m so sorry.”
Peter Robinson, Ms Amorosi’s stepfather, told the court he was not present when the “kitchen agreement” was allegedly struck, but spent 22-years living in and renovating the home believing it belonged to him and his wife.
He said he recalled a conversation in 2012 with the two women, in which Ms Amorosi said “it was time to sell”.
“I said to Vanessa which property do you want to sell, mum and I don’t care which one,” he said.
“She said sell McKenzie Lane (the home they lived in prior to moving in 2001) … that’s all I needed.”
The electrician-by-trade said he spent two years fixing up the property for sale and Ms Amorosi was given $710,000 from the proceeds.
“I told her I’m not particularly interested in one or the other house,” he said.
“I’ve never been privy to Vanessa’s personal financial situation in the US … My understanding was, there was an agreement regarding a trade of properties.”
The trial will continue next week.