Brad Pitt stages ”mini-Grammys” show to help New Orleans

Every time he crosses the Claiborne Avenue bridge heading east across the New Orleans Industrial Canal, actor Brad Pitt gets a lump in his throat.

From that vantage point, he can look down on a section of the city’s Lower Ninth Ward that is ground zero for “Make It Right,” a home rebuilding initiative Pitt launched to help people whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed 1,500 people and devastated the historic Southern city.

“Each time I come back to New Orleans and drive over that bridge, I get this swell of joy,” Pitt told Reuters, his eyes going watery. “It’s means a lot to me to watch that neighborhood take shape.”

Pitt and his movie star partner, Angelina Jolie, own a house in the city’s French Quarter, and they visit the city regularly with their six children.

The actor shares his feelings about the city and its recovery with a few thousand people on Saturday evening, as he and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, a New Orleans native, host the Make It Right Foundation’s biggest fundraiser at a New Orleans hotel.

Billed as “A Night to Make It Right,” the star-studded, sold-out gala is expected to draw 1,200 guests who paid between $1,000 and $2,500 to attend a dinner prepared by New Orleans celebrity chefs John Besh and Emeril Lagasse, and a concert featuring musical stars Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Seal and Dr. John.

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