Update: This story is false, according to reps for the couple.

After owning their New Orleans home for a little over two years, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have sold it, according to Ted Casablanca from E!. Who says it’s a bad time for real estate? The news is a little surprising, considering the homes Brad’s been helping build in the Lower 9th Ward with the Make It Right project - and his often mentioned love of the city. Last year he noted:

“I can’t describe why were allowed to live a more normal life (in New Orleans).”

The thing he misses the most, he said, is bicycling through the streets of New Orleans at night.

“Living in the French Quarter is a thrill for us,” he said. “We have some semblance of real family life. People have been very, very gracious with us. If we’re on the front deck, people go by and say, ‘Hi.’ Then they go on their way, very friendly.”

Pitt visited New Orleans in the early 1990s during the filming of “Interview with a Vampire” and took up semi-permanent residence early this year while filming “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” He said that he has been impressed with the city’s never-say-die post-Katrina spirit, especially in the hardest hit areas.

“For me, first as a tourist, it’s the most unique city that we have in the States,” he said. “It has an energy like no other place. You guys shouldn’t change a thing. I’ve got to get me some of it. I absolutely love it there. We moved our family there. We’ve got a place there and we’re intermittently going back and forth. We’re in Prague now because of work. We’ll be back there soon.”

[From The Times-Picayune]

I guess not so much. Considering how much the entire Jolie-Pitt clan supposedly loved New Orleans – and Brad’s comment that it’s “the most unique city that we have in the States,” the sale of their home seems to be further evidence that the family will probably continue to live overseas for the near future.

The couple has been just as plagued by paparazzi in their French town of Correns, where they’re leasing a home. However it appears the locals have generally taken to the couple. According to Reuters, you get a free glass of pastis if you can get a ridiculous Brangelina story published. I guess they’re trying to keep the paparazzi on their toes. Or annoy the crap out of them.

Here are Brad Pitt and Bill Clinton breaking ground on the Make it Right project in New Orleans in March. Images thanks to Splash.

Update: This story is false, according to reps for the couple.

Brangelina’s kindness and charity knows no bounds. It’s sickening, really. In that “I wish I was as good as you” way. The pair will host a fancy Hamptons soirée this weekend to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims and benefit Brad’s “Make it Right” project that he’s been working on in New Orleans. The cocktails and dinner will take place at the home of Jane Rosenthal, who Jolie met while working on “The Good Shepherd.” Apparently the pair will be choppered into the event, and won’t even stay for the weekend – one has to wonder how environmentally friendly that is, considering how Brad is all about the green building and the anti-global warming. Bur it’s probably better than taking a private, nearly empty jet.

“Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are showing their humanitarian side yet again. This time the pair are hosting a charity dinner on Saturday night in the Hamptons for the victims of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. A source at Usmagazine.com says that the guests who attend are expected to make an extremely large financial commitment to the project.

“The venue for the swanky dinner will be in the home of producer Jane Rosenthal, with whom Jolie worked with on her movie The Good Shepherd. Brangelina are said to be traveling to the party by helicopter, and jetting out via flying means as well. They are not expected to stay for the whole weekend.

“The invitation they sent reads:
‘Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina, residents of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans are still struggling to rebuild. Brad Pitt started the ‘Make it Right’ project after he visited the devastated area. He hopes to preserve the unique culture and spirit of the Ninth Ward by rebuilding a neighborhood inspired by safe and sustainable “green” homes in one of the hardest hit communities in Louisiana.’

“Brad appeared on the Today show to talk with Ann Curry about his involvement in an environmentally friendly project to rebuild houses in the demolished New Orleans.”

[From Entertainmentwise.com]

Brad Pitt makes me feel so guilty. I don’t rebuild homes or host charity events at swanky mansions. I don’t adopt kids from around the world, nor do I have a chiseled jaw. I’m not all that upset about the last one since I’m a girl, but still. I’ll never compare. Seriously, I think it’s awesome that Brad and Angelina have consistently chosen to use their celebrity to draw attention to important causes. Katrina rebuilding is really important but hasn’t got a lot of press lately –they joke about the average news viewer’s attention span being so short, and it is true – nearly two years later most of New Orleans rebuilding still needs to get started, but we haven’t heard much about it. Hopefully he’ll continue to bring attention to it.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Brad taking the kids to school in July, wearing a most Michael Jackson getup. Thanks to WENN for the photo. Header image of Brangelina and family on a boat in Chicago on Sunday. Thanks to Splash Photos.