Brad Pitt reaches settlement with Katrina victims over faulty homes

Brad Pitt and his Make It Right Foundation, who were sued in 2018 over shoddy homes they built in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, settled their lawsuit for $20.5 million.

The preliminary settlement, which still needs to be approved by a judge, will be funded by Global Green, an environmental nonprofit, has agreed to cover the settlement which will rectify the defects on the homes.

According to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate, the program’s 107 homeowners will be eligible to receive $25,000 each as reimbursement for previous repairs.

“I am incredibly grateful for Global Green’s willingness to step up and provide this important support for the Lower Ninth families,” said Pitt in a statement Thursday.

A vacant house.
The Oscar winner was sued in 2018 over the shoddy work done on homes sold to low-income families.
AFP via Getty Images

“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.”

Residents of homes built by the Make It Right Foundation sued the Oscar winner and his associates for defective design and building practices, breach of contract and fraud.

Pitt
Pitt raised millions of dollars for the New Orleans housing project.
AP

While the actor was the face of the organization, helping to raise millions of dollars to construct the homes that were sold for around $150,000 each, he passed on the day-to-day responsibilities to the foundation, only stepping back in to assist when Make It Right proved itself to be incapable of keeping up the defective homes, which ultimately led to the lawsuit.

“They believed in Brad Pitt. They believed in the dream he sold them … Unfortunately, what they got is a bunch of broken promises… living in rotten houses that should be torn down to the ground and started over,” class action suit Attorney Ron Austin told Newsnation’s Ashleigh Banfield in February.

Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation building.
Many of the homes built by Pitt’s foundation were poorly constructed.
In Pictures via Getty Images

Pitt had previously petitioned to be removed from the suit, believing he should not be held responsible for the project’s actual construction.

“Brad was a co-founder, but he wasn’t on the board for years,” a source previously told Page Six. “When the problems arose, he committed to help make it right.”

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