NOLA Cleanup Not Fast Enough For Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt is in a dither because the city where he’s just purchased a $3.5 million home isn’t recovering as quickly as he’d like from that massive hurricane (Katrina) that struck 2 years ago. While the people of NOLA were displaced and living in public buildings and stadiums and such, Brad was off with Angelina Jolie, having a baby and living in the lap of luxury.
Apparently Pitt’s bleeding heart has dripped in every direction but his wallet, as MSNBC states, “Hollywood star lends his time, celebrity to rebuilding Ninth Ward.” I didn’t see anything in the article about Pitt actually donating any actual money to New Orleans. Curiously, MSNBC says he and Angelina “have adopted New Orleans. In January, they bought an early-19th-century mansion in the French Quarter.” That’s how you “adopt” a city? By buying an extraordinarily expensive mansion in it and then whining that it’s not all nice and clean around your digs as you think it should be? I was under the impression that when you “adopt” something or someone, you’re sustaining that person or thing and helping it thrive with your own resources.
Brad complains,
“The misconception is that it was nature. But this is manmade — decades and decades of erroneous engineering moves and really, really bad, bad irresponsible moves that I believe government has a responsibility to make right.”
So nature didn’t cause the hurricane, eh, Brad? NOLA isn’t exactly built in the most hurricane-hardy location, either. But it’s all whose problem now? OH! The government. Not like Brad has any money to help these people, right? Instead of buying a 3 million dollar mansion, he could have funded oh I dunno, maybe about 58 Habitat for Humanity homes (priced at the average for Habitat houses, $60,000). Brad already HAS a home in Los Angeles that DIDN’T get wiped out in a hurricane, right? So why does he need to rub his zillions in the faces of the poor and oppressed who have lost family, friends and their homes and possessions by buying a mansion in their city? Lots of displaced people can’t even afford to come back to NOLA, but Brad isn’t having any trouble moving right in.
Pitt said he, Jolie and their children would later tour the Holy Cross area privately.
Everything Brad does is done in his own best interest and for his own comforts. He can’t even tour the area unless it’s private. He plays at being compassionate and practices his acting skills with looking concerned and caring. But watch what he actually does: he buys a big mansion, he urges other people to do the work, he stands around looking good in expensive sunglasses and a hard hat as if he were actually building anything himself. He talks to the people of NOLA and then bemoans the state of the government and how it failed the little people. MSNBC shares this little gem with us:
“I care very much for the area,” he said. “I met a 60-year-old man when I first arrived here to look into this. He said, ‘I did everything right. I got a job. I bought a home. I raised my kids in that home. They did the same. Now, one kid’s in Atlanta, another one’s in Houston. We’re all split apart and we’ve been wiped out. What do I do?’
“He’s right,” Pitt said. “That’s unacceptable.”
When Brad meets one of his neighbors on the man’s own turf and hears his story, what does Brad do? Does he reach into his vast pockets and pull out a new house for this old man or offer to help fund a family reunion for him? Nope. He just says in essence, “Wow, your life sucks, dude. Someone somewhere oughta do something about it, but it’s not gonna be me. I have a hot lady friend and lots of money to spend. Hey, that rhymed!”
Did that house he used to share with Jennifer Aniston ever get its asking price of $28 million? They bought it for $13 million. I guess it went up in price due to the scandal? Or maybe they were asking that much because the home is outfitted with these luxuries that the poor victims of Katrina have never and probably will never experience:
“The 10,000-square foot house, bought two years ago for around $13.5 million, has a screening room with 35mm equipment and black leather seats, Brazilian mahogany floors and an art studio with skylights.
The first floor features a pub with glass walls opening to an outdoor fireplace, pool and spa. The house also has a tennis court…”
Let’s see now, how many Habitat houses could have been built for those downtrodden masses in NOLA with that $28 mil? About 466.
Also, good hearted Bradley has also been in the news for scoping out a home in the Dominican Republic in 2006.
Should NOLA consider itself lucky that this self indulgent celebrity has chosen their city to show off his wealth and put their suffering in perspective by comparing their pain with his excessive pleasures? He sure won’t have to worry about murderers, looters, rapists, and the like from his perch in that mansion. And if another hurricane rolls in, he can always use a private jet to fly back to sunny L.A. Something tells me he’s got coverage.
your Origami reporter,
Momo
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Topics: In the News, Celebrities |
7 Responses to “NOLA Cleanup Not Fast Enough For Brad Pitt”
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September 20th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Hey, hey. Aren’t you being a little harsh here? By buying a big home in New Orleans, Brad has added to the tax base — and that funds schools and infrastructure. The fact that he’s made a very public commitment to the city and is using his celebrity to keep it in the news is all to the good. And I heard that he DID spend time with a hammer in his hand rebuilding New Orleans. I was just there in July (off season so I spent a lot of time with locals). Feelings were very positive toward Brad and Angelina and the Orleanians I spoke to felt they were doing a lot of good for the city.
Reserve your wrath for wealthy people like Barbara Bush who said, with spectacular uncaring, “Well, most [New Orleans refugees] are finding more opportunities in Houston, so this is all working out for them.” Those are the types of people who should be blasted.
September 20th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Both are greedy and I won’t excuse that simply because one is liberal and the other conservative. I just don’t see how buying yourself a 3 million dollar mansion is all that selfless, honestly. I would rather that someone of his vast wealth would buy these people homes and put money into the tax base while also benefitting many people rather than putting money into the tax base by rewarding himself with an overindulgent abode.
September 21st, 2007 at 12:21 am
Wait, isn’t that quite Socialist? To think that because someone has money, they automatically have to give it away or, heaven forbid, enjoy it. He’s rich, he made his money off his own talent. I have no problem with him enjoying it all he wants. Especially in something tangible like a house that brings tax revenue into a stricken area.
I do have a problem with someone like Paris Hilton blowing it all up her nose. That doesn’t benefit anyone but a few drug dealers. But then, I haven’t been told yet that I run the world.
I’m sure, given the many philanthropic things they DO talk about, Brad and Angelina are making contributions in some way behind the scenes. And people I met in New Orleans told me he did heft a hammer and help build a Habitat for Humanity house in the Ninth Ward.
Again, I’m going what people “on the ground” in NOLA are saying and they are very pleased with the commitment the two of them made in New Orleans and the fact that they keep pushing it up the news agenda. Most New Orleanians I met felt equally grateful about tourists who came. As they said, most of the bucks you spend there, stay in New Orleans and help fuel jobs. Anything any of us can do to keep New Orleans plight from being swept under the carpet or drummed out of the headlines by the latest OJ pecadillo is all to the good.
I actually saw the house and it wasn’t that extravagent looking (not a McMansion). For people with that kind of wealth and those kinds of security needs, a little ranch house wouldn’t do (although you couldn’t buy one of those in New Orleans.) Who knows if their part time residence there will influence a movie to be shot there? That does bring lots and lots of cash into a city!
September 21st, 2007 at 12:27 am
“But then, I haven’t been told yet that I run the world.”
You and me both!:) I totally respect your POV on this, I’m just an ornery sort and get myself in a dither over stuff.
I can only hope you’re right about Brad and Angelina, that they will really be a benefit to the area.
September 21st, 2007 at 12:50 am
Not that I wouldn’t LIKE to be told to run the world. And if you find that Brad IS doling out money, I’ve got a barn under construction that is costing me my left leg. How ’bout a little Farm Aid my way, Brad?
Most people in New Orleans I met were just happy someone was talking about their plight. They feel they’ve been ignored, passed over and their very terrible situation not taken seriously. I’ve been urging everyone I know to visit the city as that’s what most of them say will make the greatest difference — getting the tourism industry back up and running. Since you find virtually no chains or Starbucks in NOLA, every sandwich you buy, every cup of coffee you drink, every nightclub or music venue you visit, every tour you take, every trinket you buy, helps fund jobs and businesses for locals.
And I might add that New Orleans is not as crime-ridden as some news reports would have you believe. Just don’t go into blighted areas after dark. But all around the French Quarter and other scenic spots? I walked around day and night and felt safer than I do in the Haight-Ashbury.
September 21st, 2007 at 12:53 am
That’s true, he is keeping the plight in people’s minds. Lots of people do get complacent and think, Oh NOLA’s fine, it’s back and everyone’s home. That’s not the case, and since the media has moved on to the “flavor of the week” (I think this week it’s the Jena 8 rally), they easily forget what came before. People are even a lot more numb towards 9-11 now. Used to be you saw American flags plastering everything. That sure didn’t last long, eh?
I’ll build a barn in my living room if Brad will send some money my way:)
September 27th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Brad Pitt pledges $5 Million of his own money to augment the work his group is doing to rebuild the Ninth Ward. Read it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/09/26/brad-pitt-heats-up-clinto_n_65958.html