Brad Pitt is 'willing to look at the death penalty' in bizarre rant against BP

By DAVID GARDNER
Last updated at 6:49 PM on 22nd August 2010

Brad Pitt has waded into the Gulf oil spill controversy with an extraordinary veiled attack on BP.

The Hollywood actor said he would consider the death penalty for those to blame for the ruptured well that gushed millions of gallons of oil into the ocean.

He was speaking in a documentary due to be screened in the US tomorrow tonight.

Brad Pitt has said he would consider the death penalty for those to blame for the Gulf oil spill crisis

Asked about the people responsible for the crisis, the ‘Inglourious Basterds’ star said: ‘I was never for the death penalty before – I am willing to look at it again.’

Mr Pitt, 46, has spearheaded the ‘Make it Right’ project to build 150 affordable and sustainable homes in one of the areas of New Orleans that was worst hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

His efforts in the region are featured in the new film by director Spike Lee marking the fifth anniversary of the hurricane devastation.

The documentary, called ‘If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise’, was supposed to end on a positive note with the New Orleans American Football team winning the Super Bowl.

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion happened in April, killing eleven workers and triggering the worst environmental disaster in US history

But when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion happened in April, killing eleven workers and triggering the worst environmental disaster in US history, Mr Lee extended the film to include that story.

‘This would have been a much more upbeat documentary for sure,’ he said yesterday. After the oil spill, the filmmaker said he had to ‘rethink and reconfigure.’
But despite the setbacks suffered in the region, Mr Lee said residents would bounce back.

‘Their wills are not going to be broken. They are going to keep moving on,’ he added.

Mr Pitt’s incendiary remarks were revealed as his partner Angelina Jolie was making a goodwill visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Mr Pitt has spearheaded the 'Make it Right' project to build 150 affordable and sustainable homes in one of the areas of New Orleans that was worst hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005

She spoke to government officials about possible education programmes to help resettle refugees still homeless following the country’s civil war.

The superstar couple, who have six children, own a home in New Orleans.

An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico during the 87-day spill. According to US Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the operation to permanently seal the leak will not be completed until early next month.

Although the flow of oil was stopped on July 15, BP had originally hoped to complete the ‘bottom kill’ to pump cement into the well this month.

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