Two weeks ago, Brad Pitt filmed a segment for Ellen DeGeneres’ show in New Orleans. Ellen, who grew up in Louisiana, wanted to profile Brad’s Make It Right NOLA foundation, but she was also in New Orleans to host Brad’s MIR fundraiser too. Many celebrities came to New Orleans and donated money, and the event was a big success. Anyway, on today’s Ellen, she shows her interview with Brad, which was conducted in the Lower Ninth Ward where Make It Right is building all of these eco-friendly, sustainable, hurricane-resistant homes. Brad says that thus far, MIR has built 75 new homes. Can I just say? I haven’t seen footage of the neighborhood in a while, and I LOVE all of the bright homes. They’re so cute!
Brad aims for humility, and while I think he truly knows that he’s only one part of a larger movement, I do think part of his “humility” is just an act. He says, “I know but I’m getting far too much credit for this. This took a lot of very smart people coming in and attacking the situation. It took the families determined to come back and their resilience and they’re defining what this thing was going to be. I get far too much credit for bringing some really smart people together.” True. But he’s also the public face of Make It Right, and he’s the one doing the most press for the foundation, so just own it.
Also – I love the part about how one of the kids might end up an architect. Which kid is it? Zahara? Maddox? FAX?
Photos courtesy of Ellen’s show, Fame/Flynet.
Brad aims for humility, and while I think he truly knows that he’s only one part of a larger movement, I do think part of his “humility” is just an act.
I agree.
Well, in my opinion, it’s not so much part of an act as it is part of public expectation. How else would we really expect him to respond to all the praise he’s gotten for the project? It’s not like he can ever just go out and say, ‘Yeah I kept this thing going when the rest of y’all had gone back to talking about the Kardashians.’
The people of Nola needed a pick me up after Katrina, and I love that not only people who have ties to the city chose to help. Yes, Brad Pitt is only a small part of all of this, but the fact is, his name helps spread the word. This is so great!
I you listened to the interview Ellen said that he was the reason for the continued press and attention.
thing is if he had taken full credit the criticism would be that he is not acknowledging the people working there everyday. He is trying to do that. But again it becomes a lose lose thing.
I think many communities would have loved to have a Brad Pitt to bring attention to the needs of their communities. The MIR organization is now working with Vets to provide housing for them. Not to mention reopening a school. And MIR is building the TB aids clinic in Africa using these building and design practices. So it is doing a lot and I applaud him for continuing to bring media focus to that area and other places as they begin to branch out to other communities and Countries.
If he wanted to do charitable work quietly he could, but he chooses not to. He chooses to make it about himself. There is nothing humble about Brad Pitt dragging Ellen and her camera crew through New Orleans to talk about Brad Pitt.
He is a very “FAMOUS” public figure. There’s no way in hell he can do it quietly. The couldn’t even ride a bike without the papz following him. If Brad really loves attention, he would have been in NOLA every month. When was the last time you seen him there? He just did a charity event to raise money so there’s no avoiding being seen. Have you seen him since this event?
Regardless if he does this for attention or not, at least the people at NOLA have a place to live. What have you done?
If he wants to help provide housing, he could cut a check that would provide housing…a lot of it! I don’t like the way celebrities use their names to ask others to give to a cause when they should give themselves. Encourage action with action. If I had his money, I would do a lot of good with it inconspicuously.
This is for Ainsley.
oh honey, how easy it is to just cut a cheque and then move on.
He is giving his TIME, which is so much more than money. he is there, witnessing the heartache and the distress, and he is talking with people, helping them with his spirit and his generosity.
That is worth so much more than money. he is bringing them hope, as does every person who gives their time to others.
“If I had his money, I would do a lot of good with it inconspicuously.”
You mean like good deeds “Ninja” style? Is your (imaginary) charity “kung-fu” stronger than Brad’s? Is that what you’re saying? 😎
Huzzah! The world is a better place now that we know that IF you had as much money as Brad, you’d do charity work the “right” way. Please excuse me now, I have to head back to multi-faceted, complex world of REALITY…
There’s a huge difference between talking the talk and walking the walk…I think I’ll take fact over fiction on this one, but thanks. 😉
If he “just cut a check” then I don’t think it would do as much to get other people (and more importantly their pocketbooks) on board. He is going above and beyond not to further himself but to further the cause, imo.
Ainsley, honey, you realy dont know what it means when you lost everything, when you lived through war and know what fear and hunger means. you sit on your couch and judge other. you are lame !!!!
People in bad situations like this WANT ATTENTION. When i lived in Bosnia we wanted the attention because the serbs wanted to kill all of us and europe didnt want to help us or to see us. SO its absolutely great that stars bring attetion to it. Instead of getting attion because Brad fart or Shilo has a new haircut, they bring attention to REAL ISSUES! The Media is interested in them no matter what they do so its GREAT that they do it LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!
PEACE TO ALL OF YOU, MAY YOU NEVER LEARN WHAT WAR REALY MEANS, AMEN!
LMAO “Dragging Ellen” to New Orleans? Dude, do your research. Ellen was one of the first celebrity donors to the project and she’s always been a big part of it. That show was put together by her writers.
I think he’s right, I’ve been thinking the same for a while now. Celebrities lend their name to a charity or project then get all the credit when it should be the volunteers working day in day out who should be acknowledged.
Agree – anyone helping is good and celebs do bring some attention, but I’m far more impressed by those who work day after day and don’t have millions of dollars and movie or sports careers to go back to.
Glad to see MIR has picked up the pace in their building, and that the homes fit into the style of the neighborhood a bit more than some of the earlier versions did.
aw, a little fishing for compliment there?
but good for him to give the people at MIR and the community a shout-out too
continue building and rebuilding, NOLA.
I think the kid he’s talking about is Maddox or Pax. I thought he said, “when he draws” or something along those lines.
+1
Ellen is so cute!!! AWWW!!!
LOL….um, Ellen is an adult 😉
She’s adorable, I agree.
Ellen is a beautiful woman. I don’t think I ever realised how pretty she was until recently.
What’s the current president doing about it? I think politicians and the people who live in New Orleans can do something about it, not some actor. Maybe you should go solve the problem. That might help you get over your bitterness.
I have never thought about what the JP kids will end up, but it only makes sense that at least 1 of them would end up being an architect. How could you not when your parents love somethinig that much? I gives me hope for the children (not that I didn’t before) that they will have great passions that they have the oppurtunity to explore.
I love the fact that he is doing something so amazing in the US – charity begins at home…it just seems celebs would rather focus elsewhere. Not to say their causes are not justified (Sudan hearts Clooney) but its just nice to see it helping US citizens. Team Brad.
Yes. I don’t think many Americans truly understand how devastating Katrina really was seeing it from the vantage point of TV. If it takes a mega-celeb to bring some attention to the ongoing issues, that’s great.
As for this…”But he’s also the public face of Make It Right, and he’s the one doing the most press for the foundation, so just own it.”
I think he does own it, he just wants to make sure the people who are on the front lines doing the hard work get the credit they deserve. I don’t think his humility is an act.
Like him hate him what he is doing here a good thing. He could have done million other things in his time.
I guess if he got arrested and thrown into jail he would been seen a Humble.
He has been the face of this project. and because of that it still gets media attention. Where are all the celebs that were going to help in Haiti or Joplin or the other countless disasters. They came, they saw, the helped for a minute, they wore rubber bracelets or tee shirts and tweeted.. then they left and have not returned.
NOLA is fortune that Brad came and saw and helped and came back again and again and again.. or to put it better.. HE STAYED
I agree. Say what you want about the Brange, and I am certainly not saying they don’t have their moments of vanity and self-aggrandizement, but they do walk their talk and try to help people. They don’t have to, but they do, and I respect them for that.
Word!
Nicely put Asli and operagirl – totally agree!
I completely agree with you!
It is a vanity project for him & a huge tax break. Only 75 houses built? He could have helped more by cutting a huge check & let them really have a go at rebuilding.
You are completely missing the point of Make It Right. Just goes to show what blind hatred can do to a person.
If he just cuts a check, I am sure people would complain that it is easy to just cut a check. He helped other countries people complain he didn’t do enough for U.S. He helps U.S. people complain he is doing it for attention. Damn he does and damn he doesn’t. Maybe, you people should ask the people who live in those 75 homes if they care he is doing it for publicity or not.
Also, Brad is rich but not as rich as some other celebs. Oprah is worth a billion. She still’s asked other celebs to donate.
What an ignorant sentiment. If he built one family in NOLA a home made out of cardboard cut outs he’d have gotten good press. Brad Pitt isn’t a government official the resentment should be saved for FEMA and the idiot politicians who turned a blind eye to the levy system for decades along with the inept Bush administration for his half-assed disaster relief. Dictating an amount of homes he should have been required to build on your timeframe not those of the architects and builders involved is just bizarre.
Well with all jennifer spends on beauty treatments she could donate that money to NOLA….or maybe she’s too busy filming those commercials for St. Lukes (?) and getting publicity for doing not much.
Oh for crying out loud…give it a rest. It must be exhausting to hate this much.
Brad looks like Moe Berg from The pursuit of happiness.
I think the kid is Knox. He said the kid was using crayons. I would think at Maddox & Pax’s ages, they’d be using pencils. Who knows.
It was a good interview. I liked how humble he was & the credit he gave to the architects, builders and inhabitants of the 9th Ward who wanted to return.
I love the work that BP and AJ do. They get so involved, you know it’s because they care, not just to drop money and get a write-off. Brad spends a lot of hands-on time with this project. Angelina visits countries, speaks at the UN, sits and watches war crimes trials. Reads up on of the issues. Throws herself into it completely. I love their passion and caring.
To some extent, they have to use their fame. That’s PART of why celebrities get asked to participate in things – in hopes that leveraging their fame, more attention and awareness can be brought to the issue.
i think it’s shiloh or zahara.
especially when he said he went all “oh honey!” when he saw the kid draw crayon houses.
zahara has a sense of style, maybe while she’s not drawing designs to knock Karl L off his feet, she’ll be designing grand sustainable houses.
or shiloh… this is where pan and wendy will live, the nutcracker soldiers go in this barrack and so on and so forth.
I love how he just stands there letting people hang off all over him – you can tell this is a man with many children lol…love him!
Forgive my ignorance but seventy-five houses? That’s it?
Good on Brad Pitt for lending his fame and money but it’s shocking to me that there are only those few houses built in all this time. Surely more than 75 homes were lost. Is there not any assistance from the government or some other organization? Just my opinion but those homes are ugly in design.
You do realize that the people that lived there own the land.
MIR is trying to help the previous owners return to THEIR LAND AND PROPERTY.
They can’t just build on property that belongs to someone else.
Still 75 homes is a pitifully small amount when you consider there are whole subdivisions built in far less time. This is actually pathetic to me when you consider the amount of money wasted on war in other countries. Priorities are so messed up. All of these displaced families could and should be living in their own homes.
This is about more than NOLA, they are working on changing how low income housing is built throughout America. The homes are durable, low toxins, high energy appliances, solar panels etc. That’s why he’s emphasizing price being competitive and time being quick.
It’s taken a while b/c they needed to clear the land, prep it, get permits, prototype houses, screen families, and get the banks involved to offer mortgages to the families.
Exactly. He said in the interview that it took time for everything to come together. Now, that they know what to do & how to do it, they can increase production time. Also, it took time for funding to come through. Half of the cost was covered by MIR, the rest was covered by insurance and financial aid.
@Blondie
I guess you didn’t read Lisa’s post. They can’t just build on any land;the people had to prove they owned the land to rebuild homes. The Goal for the project in NOlA was 150 homes. But Brad has recently said, they hope to increase that number. There are now plans underway to do the same in other urban areas in the US. BTW, that’s an average of 19 homes built per year since the first construction began June 2008.
I like that he got so excited by one of his kids maybe being a budding architect. Usually we see men wanting that little football player or soccer star or whatever.
the fact that he lit up about them maybe being a designer or builder.
very sweet.
::sigh::
Ok here’s the thing. Brad Pitt conceived this idea and publicly named it “Make it Right”. Problem = that phrase was coined, in active use and trademarked by the Canadian Mike Holmes of Holmes on Homes tv show. That show and Mike Holmes “Make it Right Foundation” existed LONG BEFORE Brad Pitt conceived this idea.
Link:- http://makeitright.ca/
The first NOLA homes for MIR were built by CANADIANS. Brad Pitt is partnered with Mike Holmes.
So, I applaud Brad Pitt, agree he gets too much credit, happy he owns that but also very impressed that he does this and started it in NOLA. But he didn’t do it alone by a long shot and he doesn’t keep it going. He keeps it publicized to get $$ which is very important or nothing could happen.
But let’s give credit where credit is due, in at least equal measure, to Mike Holmes and his Canadian crew of contractors who stepped in when NOBODY in USA companies would help NOLA for Brad Pitt or this entire project, at least in the beginning.
More links:-
http://www.thestar.com/article/614713–mike-holmes-helps-make-it-right-in-new-orleans
http://blog.nola.com/davewalker/2008/07/mrfixit_mike_holmes_visits_new.html
And tons more online. Just google. 😉
IIRC, the project was named Make It Right after a gentleman who had lived in the 9th Ward told Brad to “make it right”.
I didn’t get the impression Mike Holmes was directly involved with MIR NOLA. I thought from the article that he offered his assistance & crew to help build, but not that he was one of the people involved with starting the organization. And Pamela is right. Brad said the name came about from a gentleman he was talking to, who said they (the citizens of NOLA) were going to make things right again. Or something like that. It’s near the end of the video.
There were several tv episodes of the first house built, featuring Brad Pitt briefly on camera speaking with Mike Holmes.
Mike Holmes researched how to build the houses, and built the first one.
The phrase Make It Right could be thought up by anyone. But the point I stated, or was trying to, was that someone else already had been using it and trademarked it and owned it in Canada. For years before NOLA tragedy even happened. That’s why Mike Holmes got involved. He had the expertise Brad Pitt needed and Mike did not want to sue him for using it so they jointly started this.
Oh Ainsley, Ainsley, Ainsley,he DID cut a check,a $5 million dollar check back when MIR was just starting up. Piece of advice….do some research before spouting your special brand of cray cray.It just makes you look stupid.
Boo, why the comment that Mike “didn’t want to sue him”? I am sure that Brad discussed the name with Mike Holmes before naming the project MIR. Why do people always have to look for the negative with anything concerning Brad and Angie?
I guess they don’t realize that nobody owns the name MIR. Mike didn’t have a problem and said so in an interview. Plus if it was a problem he would not have been working with the project.
and yes the people making negative comments are doing it only because its Brad. These are the same people that scream he and Angie don’t help in the US. but I don’t see those comments regarding George or Matt anyone else. Just Brad.
Sad that some peoples whatever clouds their view of the truth.
Brad is a good man. Has always been a good man. You don’t fake that. And the way the people in NOLA react to him. Well that is enough for me.
I recall at the start a reporter went to Nola to interview the people in the lower 9th. It was obvious that he was trying to get dirt or get something negative on tape about Brad and Angie. Well he was shut down big time.
+2
+3
leave my man alone(shouting,lol) he is humble, and giving out credit, you can tell the people who are leaving the negative comments? hearts are not in it, just something to sprout off about, they couldn’t care less, anywhoo, the comments that says he could wright a check quietly and leave. he could also not give one red cent. most celebs have done just that, (tax right off) brads heart is in this project, his name alone gets things done,. but you already know that.
Brad and Angie walk the talk. As much as people rag on Sean Penn he does the same.
I like Sandra Bullock but she just writes a check like so many other stars.
I think Kaiser has Brad mixed-up with Clooney.
I love that last pic! It looks like you can photoshop the people around him right out of it and photoshop a premiere background in!
I love Brad. He is so friggin busy, and still tries to help people rebuild their lives. Brad has made an effort, whereas there are much wealthier folks that don’t give a damn at all. Love Brad, he is a good man.