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Mayor Karen Bass’s brother is suing the city of Los Angeles after his Malibu home burned down in the devastating Palisades Fire … claiming the city his sister runs was the reason he and his wife lost everything.

Kenneth Bass and his wife, Cindy, joined a massive class action lawsuit last month against the City of Los Angeles over the Palisades fire. Kenneth and his wife said they not only lost their home, but were injured due to smoke inhalation and suffered severe emotional distress, annoyance and mental anguish, according to the documents obtained by The California Post.


  Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s brother is suing the city after his Malibu home burned down in the devastating Palisades Fire. Getty Images Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s brother is suing the city after his Malibu home burned down in the devastating Palisades Fire. Getty Images

  Kenneth Bass and his wife filed the lawsuit last month, alleging they were injured due to smoke inhalation and suffered distress and anguish. London Entertainment Kenneth Bass and his wife filed the lawsuit last month, alleging they were injured due to smoke inhalation and suffered distress and anguish. London Entertainment

   The suit is one of thousands of complaints filed by property owners after the destructive January 2025 wildfire ravaged the area and left 12 people dead. AP  The suit is one of thousands of complaints filed by property owners after the destructive January 2025 wildfire ravaged the area and left 12 people dead. AP

The suit is one of thousands of complaints filed by property owners after the destructive January 2025 wildfire ravaged the area, caused billions in damages and left 12 people dead.

Kenneth and Cindy’s filing joined other local families from Malibu, Topanga and the Palisades collectively seeking damages for property loss and injury in attaching themselves to the original class action lawsuit.

The complaint, officially filed on May 18, 2026, in LA County Superior Court, seeks a trial by jury.

“The Palisades Fire has been a traumatic event for its victims, who through no fault of their own, went from homeowners to homeless in a matter of hours,” the original complaint said.

It went on to blame the city for the Santa Ynez Reservoir — a 117-million-gallon component of Los Angeles’ water infrastructure — sitting empty as the Palisades Fire erupted, severely restricting the water available to crews on the front lines.

“Along with tens of thousands of victims in the Palisades Fire, Kenneth and Cindy Bass retained legal representation for counsel and advice a year ago in June 2025,” the couple’s attorney told The Post.

“As part of the mass tort legal process, Mr. and Mrs. Bass’ names were formally added as some of the nearly 40,000 victims who suffered losses. Their family connections are irrelevant, and as non-public citizens they are entitled to respectful privacy as they pursue their legal rights along with all represented victims,” the statement from The Frantz Law Group continued.

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The lawsuit names the City of Los Angeles and the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP), alongside a laundry list of other defendants. The original complaint also included the Southern California Edison, the J. Paul Getty Trust, and various telecom and state park entities.


  The couple’s Malibu home overlooking the Pacific Ocean, was listed as a “total burn down” in court documents. Google The couple’s Malibu home overlooking the Pacific Ocean, was listed as a “total burn down” in court documents. Google

Kenneth and Cindy’s residential property, located in Malibu overlooking the Pacific Ocean, was listed as a “total burn down” in the court documents. The couple sold burned out land on May 1, 2025, for $2 million.

They then purchased a modern five-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Los Angeles on for $6.1 million in June 2026.

The 78-year-old brother of Mayor Bass, who has faced widespread criticism over the city’s handling of the wildfire, owns a kitchen remodeling company in Culver City called The Kitchen. When The Post visited Kenneth at his company last month, he refused to discuss his relationship with his sister.

Two weeks after the fire started, Mayor Bass revealed that her brother and his wife had lost their longtime Malibu residence.


  The destructive January 2025 wildfire ravaged the area and left 12 people dead. AP The destructive January 2025 wildfire ravaged the area and left 12 people dead. AP

“The loss that you’re going through, I share indirectly. It’s hit my family too,” the mayor told the Pacific Palisades Community Council in late January 2025.

Kenneth Bass has repeatedly stated his support for his sister and donated to her campaign as she seeks reelection. She will face socialist-linked City Councilwoman Nithya Raman in the November runoff.

“I don’t think he has any choice. He can’t not do it because it’s his sister [who is mayor],” Jennifer Gray Thompson, the founder and CEO of After The Fire USA, told L.A. Material about the suit. “It’s incredibly sad, in many ways, that this is the case.”

Thompson said said the family should not be faulted for suing city officials connected to the fire, given the trauma they experienced.

The Post contacted both the mayor’s office and her campaign for comment on the lawsuit.

Attorneys representing the city and DWP have denied any wrongdoing.

“Our office remains confident in the City’s overall position that it is not liable for these disastrous wildfires,” said Ivor Pine, a spokesperson for the City Attorney’s office, to L.A. Material.

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