Brad Pitt has shared a significant lifestyle change, revealing in a wide-ranging Esquire profile published Monday that he has stepped away from sobriety after seven years.
“No, I got—I was sober for seven years. And then I got back off the wagon,” Pitt told Esquire, before clarifying that his current approach is more restrained. “I got overconfident a couple times, went, Yep, nope, not good for me. Not in big quantities.”
The interviewer noted that Pitt had offered him a glass of wine earlier in their conversation. “Yeah. Well . . . I can have a few. But I can’t have a lot. I have to be professional about it,” Pitt said.
Pitt first began his sobriety journey in 2016, following Angelina Jolie’s divorce filing after an alleged confrontation aboard the former couple’s private plane. A source told PEOPLE at the time that Pitt had become verbally and physically confrontational with one of their children during the incident, allegations he has denied.
Read more about this topic: Vivienne Jolie becomes fourth Jolie-Pitt child to drop Pitt from her name (with video)
Investigations by both the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services and the FBI followed, resulting in no charges filed against Pitt and no findings of abuse.
Pitt discussed his path to sobriety in a 2019 interview with The New York Times, saying at the time, “I had taken things as far as I could take it. So I removed my drinking privileges.”
He went on to spend 18 months attending Alcoholics Anonymous, describing the experience of the all-male support group as unexpectedly powerful. “You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard,” he said. “It was this safe space where there was little judgment, and therefore little judgment of yourself.”
Months later, at the 2020 National Board of Review Awards Gala, Pitt publicly thanked fellow actor Bradley Cooper, who has been sober for more than two decades, for helping him through his own recovery. While accepting the Best Supporting Actor award for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Pitt said, “Bradley just put his daughter to bed and rushed over here to do this. He’s a sweetheart. I got sober because of this guy and every day has been happier ever since.”
Read more about this topic: Zahara Jolie takes legal step to formally drop Pitt from surname (with video)
In June 2025, Pitt spoke further about his recovery during an appearance on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, describing a particularly difficult period in his life. “I was pretty much on my knees, and I was really open. I was trying anything and everyone, anything anyone threw at me,” he said. “It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting. I needed to wake the f— up in some areas. And it just meant a lot to me.”
