Brad Pitt is opening up like never before about his battle with alcoholism and how joining Alcoholics Anonymous helped him turn things around. Appearing on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, the Oscar-winning actor revealed that he hit rock bottom before finally seeking help.
Brad Pitt Reveals Deep Struggles with Alcohol
“I was pretty much on my knees, and I was really open,” Pitt said. “I was trying anything and everyone. Anything anyone threw at me. It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting. I needed to wake the f**k up in some areas. And it just meant a lot to me.”
Brad Pitt gets candid about attending Alcoholics Anonymous after the turmoil of his split from Angelina Jolie: “I needed rebooting.” pic.twitter.com/ceu1FxIUxM
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Brad Pitt recalled feeling nervous at his first AA meeting. “I’m generally a bit shy in any situation at first,” he said, but added that a friend reassured him it was a “safe place.” Eventually, he embraced the experience: “I just remember getting my arms around it pretty quickly and it became a thing for me. It was really like something I’d look forward to.”]
‘A Special Experience’: Brad on What AA Taught Him
While Pitt initially joined AA to confront his drinking, he quickly realized how powerful the community was. “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,” he said. “I thought it was a really special experience.”
He also opened up about owning his past mistakes. “I am a stubborn f–k, but when I’ve stepped in s–t, I’m pretty good at taking responsibility for it and owning up to it.”
Pitt’s decision to get sober came after his 2016 split from Angelina Jolie, a moment he now sees as a major wake-up call. In a 2019 New York Times interview, he said, “I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privileges.”
He added, “You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard. It was this safe space where there was little judgment, and therefore little judgment of yourself.”
