There were quiet rumors about Brad Pitt’s Make It Right NOLA project for several years. The rumors involved shoddy workmanship, and the MIR homes being unliveable after a few years. Apparently, the MIR homeowners really did try to deal with everything quietly, and they repeatedly asked MIR to help them deal with all of the problems in their homes. MIR did next to nothing to help them, and the city had to come and destroy several of the MIR homes because they were so shoddily made. So over the summer, the homeowners organized as a group and sued MIR and Brad Pitt. Brad’s team has being doing a lot to make it sound like it was just an issue with one architect, or one supplier, and that Brad had walked away from MIR years ago therefore he had no liability. Now it seems that Brad wants the homeowners’ class action lawsuit thrown out, or just the part of the lawsuit where he would be held accountable.
Brad Pitt is demanding a class action lawsuit filed against him and his charity over the homes built following Hurricane Katrina be tossed out, and claims it was not his responsibility to make sure the homes were properly built. On November 20, the actor filed court documents in Louisiana in the lawsuit brought against him and his Make It Right Foundation.
Pitt says Make It Right was founded, “with the mission of building high-performance, sustainably-designed homes to be sold at affordable prices to residents of the Lower Ninth Ward, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.” The star says he had no duty personally to the homeowners and did not breach any deal with them. Translation: “I’m an actor, not a construction worker.”
Pitt points out that the plaintiffs have previously praised him for leading the charge on building the homes, and specifically mentioned “that they are extremely grateful to Mr. Pitt for his efforts in helping to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward.” The court docs state, “Mr. Pitt cannot simply be lumped together with other defendants and held liable for alleged conduct in which he is not even alleged to have participated.”
The actor’s lawyers argue that the “Petition contains no allegations that Mr. Pitt committed any act or omission, other than in his capacity as a Director, which allegedly caused plaintiffs emotional distress, much less a physical injury.” Pitt is demanding he be dismissed entirely out of the case. He is not requesting that Make It Right be let off the hook, but only wants himself personally dismissed.
Make it Right Foundation was founded by Pitt to help residents move back to the Lower Ninth Ward following Hurricane Katrina. The charity helped build affordable homes and sold them to residents whose homes were destroyed.
[From The Blast]
Again, I can’t help but think of how much credit Brad took when he formed MIR. He was on the cover of Architectural Digest. He was giving interviews in New Orleans to the Today Show. He was hosting charity events for MIR in New Orleans. He wanted so much credit, and he got it. And now that everything is covered in mold and water damage, he’s like “I don’t know her” and “I’m just an actor, y’all.” I mean, I’m sure he has some sort of legal argument, but considering all of the credit he got for MIR when it was considered successful, it seems stupid for him to now claim that he has no responsibility of liability.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, WENN.
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