Karen Bass’ brother sues Los Angeles after his Malibu home burned down in the Palisades Fire

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

Kenneth Bass and his wife filed the lawsuit last month, alleging they were injured due to smoke inhalation and suffered severe emotional distress, annoyance and mental anguish.

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.

In his filing, the Bass household joined 15 other local families from Malibu, Topanga and the Palisades who are collectively seeking damages for property loss and injury.

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

The Post has reached out to the couple’s attorneys, The Frantz Law Group, for comment.

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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. They include Southern California Edison, the J. Paul Getty Trust, and various telecom and state park entities.

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

The next month, the couple purchased a modern five-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Los Angeles on for $6.1 million.

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.

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

“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.