Brad Pitt took a few minutes with WWNO reporter Eileen Fleming to review the status of the Make it Right project he founded in the Lower Ninth Ward. Before hosting a fundraiser, he spent some time in the neighborhood.

For my meeting with Brad Pitt for a 15-minute interview, I drove as instructed to a nearly complete home in the Make it Right neighborhood in Lower Ninth Ward. Security allowed me in, and I was shown to an empty back room where Brad Pitt was sitting by himself, behind a bare, simple fold-out table.

Q. “It is nice and echo-y in here because this is a brand new…

A. “ They’re so air tight that, I mean, you can’t hear – Claiborne’s right there and you cannot, you can’t hear it.”

Read more. Notice the interview comes in two great parts. You can also download and listen to the audio version of both interviews, go check the BP Media archive for that!

The video in the post before this one shows the whole segment that was broadcasted. What a lovely video to watch. Thanks to Hallie we have this great still of the show and the transcript. Thank you! Photocredit to Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and Brad Pitt walk through the lower ninth ward in New Orleans and discuss the progress of “Make It Right” airing on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Tuesday, March 20th. Brad on New Orleans and “Make it Right”

Ellen: Let me start from the beginning. Lets start from when you first fell in love with New Orleans. Where were you? What year?

Brad: Early 90’s and it was a bit of a blur because New Orleans will do that to you.

Ellen: I don’t remember last night.

Brad: Yeah I understand. I fell in love with the place. The people. The music. It’s in the air. It’s something you can’t describe on camera.

Read more.

Is happening while I am typing this update. Be sure to check Brad’s Google + account (link on the sidebar on your left) for some on-the-spot updates! Pics later.

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.

Read more.

Since Hurricane Katrina, Brad Pitt’s charity has been focused on building sustainable homes in New Orleans. But, now the generous star is branching out to give some much-needed attention to his home state.

The Make It Right organization pledged $2.3 million to turn the closed-down 103-year-old Bancroft School in Kansas City, Mo., into a housing complex and community center. It’ll come complete with apartments, a gym and a healthcare center, Fox4KC.com reports.

“The good news today is that we are now going to make it right,” Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II told the news source.

Cleaver announced the building project Monday, which will cost $14 million. Its funding will be generated from federal tax credits, low income housing tax credits, and Pitt’s organization.

The work is part of Kansas City’s Green Impact Zone, which works to gather resources to make a major impact in communities, one big project at a time.

“This is just the start,” Cleaver told Fox4KC.com, “but it is a beautiful start.”

Although Pitt did not make it to the announcement of the project, he is expected to be there at its finish in the spring of 2013, Fox4KC.com reports.

Read more.

Only hours left, watch the auctions and bid if you are able to. All profits go to Make It Right! Check the auctions!

eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, is teaming up with Brad Pitt’s Make It Right to take charitable fundraising to a whole new level with a physical space and interactive bidding. Fans are invited to walk through a gallery featuring one-of-a-kind celebrity experiences and mementos to be auctioned off for charity on eBay Celebrity. Smartphones add a hands-on element to visually innovative displays, enabling attendees to participate in an interactive bidding process via dimensional QR codes by utilizing the eBay mobile app to bid in real time as well as track auction progress.

The elite exhibition brings celebrity charity auction items to life in New York’s famed Chelsea Market, with 100% of proceeds going to Make It Right, a non-profit foundation building sustainable, affordable homes in disadvantaged communities. Launched in November, eBay Celebrity is a unique shopping destination that combines celebrity experiences, memorabilia and merchandise with philanthropic causes.

Read more. Very interesting I think.

So the big news is that ultra-private celebrity Brad Pitt has finally succumbed to the lure of Social Media. No, he’s not on Twitter. Nor is he on Facebook. His first venture online is on Google +.

And his first post? No, he’s not talking about smoking pot, turning into a doughnut or getting hitched to Angelina Jolie. He already fessed up about marriage to The Hollywood Reporter in the magazine’s cover story this week. His first social media post was about his Make It Right venture in New Orleans.

“Making a big announcement later this week about an event in New Orleans in March to raise money to build safe, sustainable homes for disadvantaged families and disabled veterans. Check back here or on Make It Right’s page”

Read more/discuss.

On March 10 at Hyatt Regency New Orleans, Brad Pitt and Ellen DeGeneres will host “A Night to Make It Right” with special guests Randy Jackson and performances by Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Seal and local favorite Dr. John and friends. The benefit gala will raise vital funds for the completion of 150 environmentally friendly homes.

A Night To Make It Right will attract political leaders, philanthropists, artists and entertainers, including Mayor Mitch Landrieu and host committee members Blake Lively, Chris Paul, Sean Penn and many others.

Read more/discuss.

Comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is coming home on March 10 to help Brad Pitt “Make It Right” in the Lower 9th Ward.

DeGeneres has signed on to host “A Night to Make It Right,” a gala that aims to raise enough money to finish Pitt’s goal of building 150 environmentally friendly houses in the neighborhood that was virtually wiped out after the levee breaches in 2005. Seventy-five ultra-modern homes are finished, and DeGeneres and her fans have raised more than $1.6 million, so far helping 300 people return home.

“I’m so happy I can be a part of this incredible foundation,” DeGeneres said. “Brad Pitt is amazing — not only for what he started, but also because, who else can make a hard hat look like a jaunty fall fashion accessory?”

Pitt probably will leave the hard hat at home in the French Quarter that night, when Mayor Mitch Landrieu serves as honorary co-chair. Details are still being worked out, but a press release promises the party will feature “a guest list of major entertainers, political leaders, corporate donors and philanthropists … a dinner menu celebrating the finest culinary traditions of New Orleans, and grand afterparty.”

Read more. Thanks Gabriella.