Over the years, we’ve covered the catastrophe that was Make It Right NOLA, Brad Pitt’s brain-child scheme developed after Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans drowned and devastated. MIR NOLA was supposed to bring in the best architects to construct “green architecture” at affordable prices. The houses were not given away to people in need – no, MIR NOLA’s scheme involved saddling people with 30-year mortgages on the homes, which (on average) MIR sold for $150K-250K each. Shortly after the first houses went up and the first residents moved in, the problems began. The materials were shoddy, the houses started falling apart immediately, there was toxic mold everywhere. And, again, homeowners were saddled with mortgages for homes which were unlivable. The city of New Orleans even had to destroy several homes because they were such an environmental hazard.

In 2018, those homeowners sued Brad Pitt and what was left of MIR NOLA. As it turned out, Pitt got bored and walked away from MIR, so it was a financial wreck too and barely functioning. Pitt tried to be removed from the homeowners’ lawsuit, to no avail. The homeowners’ lawyer consistently mentioned Pitt’s name and placed a good chunk of the blame on Pitt. Those people felt betrayed and they were saddled with all of that debt. Well, finally, a settlement has been reached.

Almost four years ago, residents of homes built by the Make It Right Foundation, a futuristic post-Hurricane Katrina housing development founded by Brad Pitt, sued the Hollywood superstar and his associates for defective design and building practices, breach of contract, and fraud. Late Tuesday, attorneys for the Make It Right Foundation and the affected residents told Orleans Parish Civil District Court that they had agreed on a settlement meant to make all residents of the development whole.

Make It Right will pay owners of the homes it built in the Lower 9th Ward $20.5 million, according to court documents. Though only six homeowners are named in the lawsuit against Make It Right, the class-action lawsuit settlement applies to all of the homeowners unless they choose to opt out. Pending approval by a judge, each of the 107 Make It Right homeowners will be eligible to receive $25,000 as reimbursement for previous repairs made by the owners.

After attorney’s fees are paid, the rest of the money would be divided up according to the problems that are present in each of the avant-garde structures, which have been beleaguered by leaks, rot and other defects.

The settlement papers point out that responsibility for the defects to the homes has been “vigorously” contested. Attorney Ron Austin, who represented residents in the suit against the leading man and his charitable organization, framed the outcome in David versus Goliath terms.

“This is one of those scenarios when the impossible became possible,” he said on Wednesday.

[From NOLA.com]

While there are technically 107 homeowners, I don’t think 107 (defective, mold-ridden) homes were even built? I’m not entirely clear on that, but I do know that all of the homes had serious issues, just as I know that $25K per homeowner/family is nowhere near enough. Interestingly, Pitt refused to speak to local media in Louisiana, but he did issue a statement to national media, like Page Six. His 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.”

[From Page Six]

The throughline of all of Brad Pitt’s bullsh-t is that nothing bad is ever his fault and he can’t be blamed for anything. He can’t be blamed for wanting all the credit for this ludicrous scheme and then walking away when he got bored. He can’t be blamed for using shoddy materials for his (then) signature charity. He can’t be blamed for ignoring the people he defrauded! It’s all on Global Green. I wonder who actually paid to cover Pitt’s ass.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, cover courtesy of Architectural Digest.