The Make It Right Foundation, a nonprofit group, had actor Brad Pitt as its face to promote the building project of rebuilding destroyed homes in parts of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc.
The homes Make It Right built were not durable against the climates of New Orleans, which is especially saddening and disheartening because the project was created to help those citizens rebuild their lives post-hurricane.
It is only 10 years after Make It Right built 109 homes in New Orleans, but 60% of the homes have structural problems and 2 homes have been completely demolished. In total, there are only 6 homes that are considered safe to live in out of the original 109.
In addition to several other issues, the paint on the homes wasn’t waterproof, and if any moisture got inside, the tight insulation wouldn’t allow it to escape. Unfortunately, that meant bigger issues down the road such as termite infestation and exposure to toxic black mold. In some cases, this has led to health problems for residents and in one case even death.
The homeowners sued Brad Pitt and the Make It Right Foundation in 2018. According to Ron Austin, an attorney for the Make It Right homeowners, those who bought homes built by Make It Right “believed in Brad Pitt. They believed in the dream he sold them, and they wanted very much to be a homeowner and to participate in the rebuilding of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, what they’ve gotten is a bunch of broken promises, rotten houses, left with huge mortgages that honestly they cannot afford to continue paying and living in houses that are essentially rotten and should be torn down to the ground and started over.” Austin also said that Pitt “made promises that he would build these affordable, environmentally friendly, sustainable homes.” The opposite happened.
Brad Pitt’s publicist stated: “Brad was involved in the beginning to help the people of the Lower Ninth Ward, and obviously it is upsetting to see what happened after he had stepped back from the project and others took over. His attorneys have made it clear that he has no legal liability for decisions made by others, but Brad remains personally committed to doing whatever he can to helping resolve the ongoing litigation. It was something that was important to him from the beginning and he very much wants to help facilitate this getting to a much more positive end.”
The homeowners and Make It Right have come to a settlement in which an environmental nonprofit called Global Green will pay $20.5 million, or around $25,000 per home, to restore the homes.
Brad Pitt said, In a statement: “I am incredibly grateful for Global Green’s willingness to step up and provide this important support for the Lower Ninth families. We collaborated in the early days post-Katrina and we are very fortunate to have Global Green’s generous continuing commitment to help address the challenges around these homes and others in need. Hopefully this agreement will allow everyone to look ahead to other opportunities to continue to strengthen this proud community in the future.”
