Content warning: This post discusses struggles with alcohol.
On Sept. 19, 2016, Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, five days after an alleged altercation on a private jet, whereby Brad was accused of physically and verbally assaulting his then-wife and the oldest of their six children, Maddox, who was 15 at the time.
Brad — who vehemently denied the allegations — was investigated for alleged child abuse, but was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing. The FBI, which has jurisdiction in the air, also decided further investigation was not necessary.
Brad publicly gave up drinking shortly after his split from Angelina, telling GQ in May 2017 that his relationship with alcohol had “become a problem.” “Even this last year, you know — things I wasn’t dealing with,” he said. “I was boozing too much…And I’m really happy it’s been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I’ve got my feelings in my fingertips again. I think that’s part of the human challenge: You either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve.”
Years later, in 2019, Brad revealed that he joined Alcoholics Anonymous soon after the 2016 split, telling the New York Times that it was “really freeing to just expose the ugly sides of yourself…there’s a great value in that.”
Now, nearly nine years down the road from his divorce from Angelina and his subsequent move to sobriety, Brad has reflected on his AA experience during the latest episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, saying he was struggling deeply and was open to “trying anything and everyone” that might help.
“I was pretty much on my back…on my knees, and I was really open,” he told the hosts, Dax Shepard and Monica Padman. “I was trying anything and everyone. Anything anyone threw at me. It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting. I needed to wake the fuck up in some areas. And it just meant a lot to me.”
Dax has talked very candidly about his previous addiction struggles, and it was actually at AA where he and Brad became friends. Dax recalled that “a bazillion famous people” had come to the AA meetings before, meaning the non-famous people in the group weren’t fazed by being in the presence of celebrities — perhaps until Brad Pitt showed up. “It was pretty overwhelming,” Dax remembered, adding that he was surprised by Brad’s willingness to be “so fucking honest” in the group.
“Everyone was so open… It gives you permission in a way to go, ‘OK, I’m gonna step out on this edge and see what happens,’” Brad said, adding that he “grew to love” the meetings. “I just thought it was just incredible men sharing their experiences, their foibles, their missteps, their wants, their aches, and a lot of humor with it. I thought it was a really special experience.”
A bit later in the podcast discussion, Monica asked whether Brad was nervous about his fellow group members having an “extra interest” in his personal story, perhaps in light of how publicly his divorce was playing out around that time. However, he said he was “assured by another friend that this was a safe place.”
“I am a stubborn fuck,” he admitted. “But also, when I’ve stepped in shit, I’m pretty good at taking responsibility for it and owning up to it. And now it’s a quest to, you know, ‘What do I do with this? How can I right this? And make sure it doesn’t happen again?’”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.
