Brad Pitt Went to Alcoholics Anonymous Because He “Needed to Wake the Fuck Up”

Today, 61-year-old Brad Pitt is a recent man, happily dating 32-year-old Ines de Ramon—who just appeared with him at the London premiere of F1, Pitt’s recent film about Formula 1 racing. It’s a stark contrast from where he was in 2016—the year that the star separated from Angelina Jolie, and began openly fighting a long and arduous battle with alcohol addiction. Pitt has spoken publicly about seeking support from Alcoholics Anonymous to combat his addiction. And this week, he spoke about that dim period on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast. “I was pretty much on my knees, and I was really open. I was trying anything and everyone, anything anyone threw at me,” Pitt told Shepard. “It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting. I needed to wake the fuck up in some areas.”

Shepard, who has battled and overcome the same addiction, said during the podcast that he once met Pitt at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Shepard was struck by how open the actor was to speaking with other attendees. “A bazillion famous people have come to this meeting, and everyone’s used to it,” said Shepard. “And then you came in. It was pretty overwhelming. I got a real sense of what your experience is in this way that I couldn’t really fathom: When you are in a place, everyone can’t stop thinking about you. And I was like, God, he has to be aware of that.” Pitt, for his part, added that at AA meetings, “Everyone was so open. It gives you permission in a way to go, ‘Okay, I’m gonna step out on this edge and see what happens.’ And then I really grew to love it.”

Pitt first spoke about his experience in Alcoholics Anonymous in a 2019 interview with The New York Times. At the time, the star explained, “I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privileges.” On the brink of the abyss, Pitt decided to set aside the advice that he had been raised with—“I grew up with that be-capable, be-strong, don’t-show-weakness thing”—sought support from Alcoholics Anonymous, and joined a support group.

“You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard,” Pitt said. “It was this safe space where there was little judgment, and therefore little judgment of yourself.” He found the experience invigorating: “It was actually really freeing just to expose the ugly sides of yourself. There’s great value in that.”

After eight years of legal battles with Jolie, she and Pitt reached a divorce settlement at the end of 2024. (“I don’t think it was that major of a thing,” the Oscar winner told GQ. “Just something coming to fruition. Legally.”) Now he’s focused on F1, a film directed by Joseph Kosinski, hitting theaters this weekend. At the film’s premiere, Pitt also received a nice surprise: a visit from Tom Cruise, who starred with Pitt in Interview With the Vampire decades ago.

Original story in VF Italia.