Actor Brad Pitt and his Make It Right Foundation settled a lawsuit filed in 2018 for faulty homes they built in New Orleans in 2018 after Hurricane Katrina.
Environmental nonprofit Global Green agreed to cover the settlement, which will rectify the defects on the homes, according to the Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. A judge still needs to approve the settlement ofr $20.5 million, which will award $25,000 to each of the program's 107 homeowners as reimbursement for previous repairs they had made.
"I am incredibly grateful for Global Green's willingness to step up and provide this important support for the Lower Ninth families," Pitt said in a statement Thursday, according to Page Six.
"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."
As the face of the Make It Right Foundation, Pitt helped raise millions of dollars to construct the homes that sold for around $150,000 each but stepped back and let the foundation take care of the day-to-day responsibilities.
He jumped in to assist after Make It Right failed to keep up the defective homes, which prompted residents to sue the Oscar winner and his associates for defective design and building practices, breach of contract, and fraud.
Class action suit Attorney Ron Austin condemned Pitt for selling residents "broken promises," during an interview with Newsnation's Ashleigh Banfield in February.
"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," Austin said.
According to Page Six, Pitt previously petitioned to be removed from the lawsuit on grounds that he should not be held responsible for the project’s construction.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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