Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s brother is suing the city after his Malibu home was destroyed in the devastating Palisades Fire that tore through Southern California earlier this year.
Kenneth Bass and his wife filed suit last month, alleging they suffered smoke inhalation injuries along with severe emotional distress, annoyance, and mental anguish tied to the catastrophic wildfire.
The complaint is among thousands filed by homeowners and residents impacted by the January 2025 blaze, which killed 12 people and left widespread destruction across Malibu, Pacific Palisades, and surrounding communities.
In the filing, the Bass family joined 15 other households from Malibu, Topanga, and the Palisades seeking damages related to property loss and personal injury.
The lawsuit was officially filed May 18, 2026, in Los Angeles County Superior Court and requests a jury trial.
The complaint names the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as defendants, along with Southern California Edison, the J. Paul Getty Trust, and several telecom and state park entities.
Court documents described the couple’s Malibu property overlooking the Pacific Ocean as a “total burn down.” Records show the land was later sold on May 1, 2025, for $2 million.
The following month, the couple purchased a five-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Los Angeles for $6.1 million.
Kenneth Bass, 78, owns a Culver City kitchen remodeling company called The Kitchen and has publicly supported his sister throughout mounting criticism over the city’s wildfire response.
Two weeks after the fire erupted, Mayor Bass disclosed publicly that her brother and his wife had lost their longtime Malibu home.
“The loss that you’re going through, I share indirectly. It’s hit my family too,” Bass told the Pacific Palisades Community Council in January 2025.
Kenneth Bass has donated to the mayor’s reelection campaign as she prepares for a November runoff against socialist-linked City Councilwoman Nithya Raman.
Jennifer Gray Thompson, founder and CEO of After The Fire USA, told L.A. Material that the lawsuit places the family in a difficult position politically and personally.
“I don’t think he has any choice. He can’t not do it because it’s his sister [who is mayor],” Thompson said. “It’s incredibly sad, in many ways, that this is the case.”
More over at The New York Post:
Karen Bass' brother sues Los Angeles after his Malibu home burned down in the Palisades Fire https://t.co/ABtk89damj pic.twitter.com/QBNIwenPAL
— New York Post (@nypost) June 10, 2026
