"I thought it was a really special experience" - Brad Pitt opens up about attending Alcoholics Anonymous amid Angelina Jolie split

Actor Brad Pitt is opening up about the process of getting sober after his divorce from fellow actress Angelina Jolie.

While appearing on the podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard for its episode released on June 23, Pitt described how he felt while attending Alcoholics Anonymous sessions with other men. He said:

“I just thought that it was just incredible, men sharing, you know, their experiences, their foibles, their missteps, their wants, their their aches and just and a lot of humor with it. I thought it was really special experience.”

He further shared that, although he was shy, he knew he needed a reboot as he was feeling very low at the time. While attending AA, his initial shyness remained, but he felt motivated because he genuinely wanted to feel better.

"I was pretty much on my knees, and I was really open," Pitt elaborated. "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--- up in some areas. And it just meant a lot to me."

Pitt, who attended Alcoholics Anonymous alongside podcast host and actor Dax Shepard, also spoke about listening to the comedian at the sessions. The F1 actor added:

“But Dax, you know, you go around in a circle, it's kind of a spiral ‘cause it's really crowded room. Dax would always, was near the end, usually near the end because he's been there a while, he's kind of like a elder statesman…And would always have this, like I really, I really respected it. It was really open honest, was a way to kind of take the, whatever the theme kind of seemed to go in the evening and then put it in the funniest funniest kind of package. And it meant a lot to me, really did.”

Brad Pitt has been candid about getting sober after his divorce

In 2019, Brad Pitt spoke to The New York Times about fighting with his former spouse, Angelina Jolie, about his drinking. The actor, who attended Alcoholics Anonymous for more than a year after Jolie filed for divorce, said:

“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…It was actually really freeing just to expose the ugly sides of yourself. There’s great value in that.”

Pitt also conversed with actor Anthony Hopkins about dealing with alcoholism for Interview. While speaking to Hopkins, Pitt said that alcohol provided him with a way out:

“Well, I just saw it as a disservice to myself, as an escape.”

Hopkins, who himself struggled with alcoholism, shared that it’s important to move on from one’s mistakes during his conversation with Pitt for Interview. While responding, Pitt said:

“So you’re embracing all your mistakes. You’re saying, ‘Let’s be our foibles, our embarrassment. There’s beauty in that.’”

During his conversation for Interview, Pitt also echoed Hopkins’ assertion of forgiving oneself. He stated:

“I’m realizing, as a real act of forgiveness for myself for all the choices that I’ve made that I’m not proud of, that I value those missteps, because they led to some wisdom, which led to something else. You can’t have one without the other. I see it as something I’m just now getting my arms around at this time in my life. But I certainly don’t feel like I can take credit for any of it.”

Back in 2020, Pitt noted that credit for his sobriety went to his longtime friend, actor and director Bradley Cooper. According to Deadline, Pitt went onstage at the National Board of Review ceremony after Cooper introduced him, and said:

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“I got sober because of this guy and every day has been happier since.”

Brad Pitt has definitely moved on. While promoting his upcoming film F1, the actor was spotted with his girlfriend, Ines de Ramon.

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