Brad Pitt's Make It Right organization has brought in some heavy hitters for its upcoming gala in New Orleans. Talk show host Ellen Degeneres and "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson will host a star-studded event this year to benefit Pitt's home rebuilding effort. Pitt will attend the $1,000-per-person gala on March 10 called "A Night to Make It Right," which will include performances by singers Sheryl Crow, Rihanna, Seal and Dr. John.

The "Moneyball" actor launched Make It Right in 2007 to help Lower 9th Ward residents who lost their homes during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Lower 9th Ward was one of the hardest-hit neighborhoods when Katrina caused levees to fail, inundating roughly 80 percent of the city with floodwater.

Pitt worked with architects to come up with designs for stronger, safer and more energy-efficient houses than the ones residents lost. So far 75 homes have been built, six more are under construction and construction is set to begin on roughly eight others in coming months.

Degeneres, a New Orleans native, has already donated more than $2 million to Make It Right. Other celebrities serving on the event's host committee who may also be attending include actors Josh Brolin, Sean Penn and Kevin Spacey and director Spike Lee.

The gala will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans. Comedian Aziz Ansari will host an after party. Tickets for that event start at $150.

DeGeneres and Pitt are connected in other ways as well. The talk show host recently bought a Los Angeles-area home once owned by Pitt. Earlier this week, Pitt was nominated in the best actor Oscar category for his role in "Moneyball."

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Brad Pitt has opened up about his battle with a deep depression, revealing it took a trip to Morocco for him to truly embrace life and his good fortune.

The Fight Club star spoke of his declining personal life and reliance on pot in the mid-1990s during an interview last fall and now he’s detailing the severity of his blues in the midst of his rise to fame, confessing he felt like a “waste”.

He tells The Hollywood Reporter, “I got really sick of myself at the end of the 1990s. I was hiding out from the celebrity thing; I was smoking way too much dope; I was sitting on the couch and just turning into a doughnut; and I really got irritated with myself. I got to, ‘What’s the point? I know better than this.’

“I used to deal with depression, but I don’t now, not this decade – maybe last decade. “But that’s also figuring out who you are. I see it as a great education, as one of the seasons or a semester: ‘This semester I was majoring in depression.’ I was doing the same thing every night and numbing myself to sleep – the same routine – I couldn’t wait to get home and hide out. But that feeling of unease was growing and one night I just said, ‘This is a waste.’”

And Pitt admits the thing that saved him was an eye-opening vacation to Casablanca. He continues, “I saw poverty to an extreme I had never witnessed before, and we talked about inequality and health care, and I saw just what I felt was so unnecessary, that people should have to survive in these circumstances – and the children were inflicted with a lot of deformities, and things that could have been avoided had become their sentence. It stuck with me.”That’s when Pitt decided it was time to make a change: “I just quit. I stopped grass then – I mean, pretty much – and decided to get off the couch.”

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Following the Tuesday, January 24 nomination announcement for the 2012 Academy Awards, various movie stars shared their excitement of being the Oscar nominees. Among those celebrating their noms were Brad Pitt, Michelle Williams, Jonah Hill and Rooney Mara.

"This is an extraordinary honor," Pitt enthused over his Best Actor nomination. "I am dizzy with joy... and caffeine. Considering both films, 'Moneyball and 'The Tree of Life', nearly didn't make it to the screen, this is especially sweet. And I'd like to thank all the artisans and craftsmen who gave their best to each film."

The long-time partner of Angelina Jolie additionally saluted his co-star Jonah Hill for his nom in Best Supporting Actor. "I am especially over the moon for Jonah," he said before adding, "Terry Malick and the tribute this is to Billy Beane and the Oakland A's organization. My congratulations to all the nominees...pancakes for everyone."

Hill, who was surprised with his Oscar nomination, told E! News, "Yeah, I was watching E! when I found out...I'm shocked...it's bizarre...I was trying not to think about it, but the people kept saying are you gonna watch tomorrow, so that got it in my head..."

"My phone just kind of blew up," he added. "[Brad] was really kind, he said he was really proud of me and I'm really proud of him. It's really exciting. I'm just happy to be amongst this group of amazing actors."

Michelle Williams, who was nominated for Best Actress thanks to her role in "My Week with Marilyn", shared, "I am so grateful to be acknowledged by the Academy for my work, which was made possible by the support of our director Simon Curtis and the camaraderie of a terrific ensemble of actors, a special congratulations to Kenneth Branagh, and the fearless Harvey Weinstein."

The actress who received her second Oscar nomination this year added, "This role [playing Marilyn Monroe] had been the challenge and privilege of lifetime. I would like to think that the recognition our film has received by the Academy is a testament to Marilyn's legacy."

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)" actress Rooney Mara, on the other hand, couldn't hide her happiness for her first Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She told E! News, "My phone started ringing off the hook...It's amazing, I feel very honored and humbled to be in that group. Those are women I've looked up to."

Veteran actress Meryl Streep also weighed in on her Best Actress nomination for her role as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady". She said, "I am honored to be in company with such beautiful artists, and touched deeply by my fellow actors for their generosity in giving me this acknowledgment." Meanwhile, "Albert Nobbs" actress Glenn Close gushed, "I am thrilled for Janet, I am thrilled for our incomparable hair and makeup team. It might be my sixth but it feels like my first. Bravo team Nobbs."

Another Best Actress nominee, Berenice Bejo, admitted that she couldn't believe she was nominated for her role in "The Artist". She shared, "I'm overjoyed and filled with happiness. I can't believe that a year ago I was learning how to tap dance and today I am nominated for an Academy Award."

Bejo's co-star, Jean Dujardin, additionally confessed that he's so "grateful" for his Best Actor nom. He added, "I can't help but stop and think about how incredible this journey has been. From filming on a Hollywood soundstage to the moment I received this wonderful news this morning, I'm so humbled to be amongst such distinguished and talented people."

Senior actor, Gary Oldman, commented on his first Oscar nomination in his career. "This afternoon in Berlin I learned that I was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor," the "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," thesp opened up.

"You may have heard this before, but it has never been truer than it is for me today; it is extremely humbling, gratifying, and delightful to have your work recognized by the Academy, and to join the celebrated ranks of previous nominees and colleagues. Amazing," said Oldman.

Winners of this year's Academy Awards will be announced during a ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood & Highland Center on Sunday, February 26. Hosted by veteran Oscar host Billy Crystal, the event will be televised live by the ABC Television Network in more than 225 countries worldwide.

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It was back in August when news broke that The Help director Tate Taylor was circling an adaptation of the 2002 novel Peace Like a River, about an 11-year-old asthmatic boy who goes on a cross-country search with his sister and father for his older brother who has been charged with murder, to be produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B. But Pitt’s been waiting longer than that to bring the story to the screen.

Peace Like a River was the second project Pitt bought when he started Plan B in 2002. “The first one was The Departed. The second one was this one, and it’s just taken awhile for it to gestate and find the right guy to tell it,” Pitt told us at the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday. Any chance will be seeing Pitt take the director’s chair anytime soon? “Hell no. Not interested. Not my thing,” he said.

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The mystery of the dismembered head learned last Tuesday on a well loved Hollywood hiking trail, followed soon after by a pair of severed hands and feet, has turned a normally unflinching town obsessed. Police have now revealed the victim's identity; force their questioning of area resident Brad Pitt led them to this major break in the case? Probably not, but it's fun to imagine it did.

Coroner's officials revealed on Friday that the victim is 66-year ancient Hervey Medellin (pictured), the LA Era reports, identified via fingerprints taken from one of the hands. Medellin was a retired employee of Mexicana Airlines who lived in a Hollywood apartment not far from Bronson Canyon Park, the wooded, hilly trail where a dog retrieved the plastic bag containing Medellin's head and brought it to his owner. The hands and feet were learned in the following days, after a fantastic search of the area by 120 police and firefighters. The feeling was that the body parts, all in excellent condition, were from a "fresh kill" that occurred somewhere else, and were dumped in Bronson Canyon just days previous to the discovery.

Police are being tight-lipped, but have acknowledged that one search warrant was served in Hollywood Friday night, though they wouldn't confirm if it was to Medellin's apartment. KTLA reports at least one resident in the building was questioned, but, and that a silver Honda was towed from the apartment on Thursday evening.

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Brad Pitt showed he is fighting fit for the rest of the awards season as he ditched his walking stick. The Moneyball star strode down the red carpet with partner Angelina Jolie unaided after recovering from his skiing injury.

The 48-year-old twisted his knee and tore a ligament saving the couple's youngest daughter Vivienne from a fall on the slopes during a family holiday. He had appeared on the red carpet at the Film Critics Awards in New York on 9 January and at last week's Golden Globes in LA sporting a cane. But there was no need for assistance last night as he partnered Angelina to the Producers Guild Awards. Ange, 36, wore a glamorous black dress daringly slit to the thigh and with a lace back for the do at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

The Artist, a hit at the Golden Globes last week and hotly tipped to land a clutch of Oscars next month, again picked up the big prize as it was named best-produced film.

For the last four years, the producers' best-produced film picks have gone on to win the best picture Oscar, with No Country For Old Men in 2008, Slumdog Millionaire in 2009, The Hurt Locker in 2010 and The King's Speech in 2011.

Steven Spielberg was awarded the coveted David O'Selznick achievement award and comic-book legend Stan Lee received the Vanguard award, presented by "Spiderman" actor Tobey Maguire. Both received standing ovations as they took the stage.

ABC's "Modern Family" was named best-produced television comedy for the second year running, while HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" was named best-produced TV drama. PBS' British period drama "Downton Abbey" was named best-produced long-form television series.

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Call central casting. Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to talk-show host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The 4,088-square-foot house, built in 1962, features walls of glass, dark bamboo flooring, three fireplaces, four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with a tennis court, a lap pool and beach access.

Pitt, 48, starred last year in "Moneyball" and "The Tree of Life." He will star in the upcoming "Cogan's Trade" and "World War Z."

Jolie, 36, won an Oscar for her supporting role in "Girl, Interrupted" (1999). She is the writer and director of the Bosnian War film "In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011).

DeGeneres, 53, has hosted the show bearing her name since 2003. She listed her Beverly Hills compound for sale last year at $49 million and recently reduced the asking price on her 26-acre equestrian property in Thousand Oaks to $14.9 million.

Ellen Francisco of Coldwell Banker's Malibu West office listed the Malibu property for sale in August at $13.75 million, and it was withdrawn from the Multiple Listing Service last month. High-profile houses are sometimes withdrawn before a deal closes so the activity will not be reported in the MLS.

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Stepping out for a steak, Brad Pitt was spotted at Mastro’s Steakhouse in Beverly Hills. The “Fight Club” stud looked dashing in his all-black ensemble as he made his way past paparazzi to her car and drove off into the evening.

And rumor has it that Brad and his partner Angelina Jolie will be welcoming a seventh child into their already lively brood, as Ang is secretly pregnant. An insider claims, "It's not something [Angelina] wants to officially announce but she's at a point where she is telling a select group of people. Angelina is really savoring every moment. She's having a tough time with morning sickness but says it's all worth it.”

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Poking fun at his longtime pal, George Clooney had the Golden Globes audience members in stitches over Brad Pitt and his cane. The “Up in the Air” actor took the stage at Sunday’s awards show, holding a cane by his side and making a joke at the expense of his “Fight Club” friend, who has been in need of the assistance since injuring his knee on a ski slope.

Before introducing Pitt’s film, “Moneyball,” Clooney held up the cane and said, “I have to give it back to him. He can’t make it to the bar otherwise.”With that, the camera shot to Brad and his lovely partner, Angelina Jolie, who offered up a small chuckle at the comedic comment.

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Brad Pitt, like wine, gets better with age!! The sexy actor is featured on the February 2012 issue of W Magazine. On which movie made him cry: I’m not much of a crier at films, but there was one… Life as a House. Kevin Kline is an architect and learns he has terminal cancer. He’s estranged from his teenage son and decides they’re going to finish this house. I don’t know if it would still hit me the same way, but on my 27th hour of pure wretchedness, this movie just crushed me. I should watch it again to see if it has the same effect.”

On having trouble watching himself die: “God, no. I’m just checking the boxes. Hit that. Missed that. Hit that moment. Missed that one. God, I’d like to do that one again.”On characters he’d like to do over: “Um…the first 12 years of my career, I would think.”

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