Brad Pitt has shared insights into his current relationship with alcohol.
In an Esquire feature published on Monday, August 10, journalist Ryan D’Agostino noted that Pitt, 62, had offered him wine earlier in their discussion, questioning if alcohol was reserved only for guests.
“No, I got — I was sober for seven years. And then I got back off the wagon,” Pitt admitted with a slight chuckle, raising his eyebrows and holding up a finger. “In a more restrained manner. I got overconfident a couple times, went, ‘Yep, nope, not good for me.’ Not in big quantities.”
Pitt elaborated that while he can enjoy a few glasses of wine, he maintains a limit.
“But I can’t have a lot,” he clarified. “I have to be professional about it.”
Pitt has openly discussed his sobriety over the years, having attended Alcoholics Anonymous in 2016 after an incident involving his family led to an investigation. He was later exonerated by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services that year. (Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt a week after the incident became public, and their proceedings were finalized in 2024.)
“Personally, I can’t remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn’t boozing or had a spliff or something. Something. And you realize that a lot of it is, um — cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And I’m running from feelings,” he shared with GQ in 2017.
He added, “I’m really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean, I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know — things I wasn’t dealing with. I was boozing too much. It’s just become a problem. 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.”
Brad Pitt has no regrets about discussing his sobriety journey, despite receiving some backlash from his Alcoholics Anonymous group. Pitt, 60, mentioned that AA wasn’t pleased with him for talking about the program publicly. “[Y]ou know they came down on me for that? AA did,” he shared in a new GQ profile published on Tuesday, August 13.
Pitt developed a friendship with Dax Shepard during his time in Alcoholics Anonymous and later reflected on their relationship during a 2025 appearance on Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast.
“You go around in a circle, it’s kind of a spiral because it’s a really crowded room. Dax was usually near the end because he’s been there a while. He’s kind of like an elder statesman. And I really respected it,” he recalled. “It was really open, honest, was a way to take whatever theme seemed to go in the evening and then put it in the funniest package. And it meant a lot to me, it really did.”
Pitt remembered trying “anything anyone threw at me” during that challenging period. “It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting,” he explained. “I needed to wake the f*** up in some areas.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
