Brad Pitt Opens Up About AA Journey After Angelina Jolie Divorce: “I Needed To…”

In a rare, emotional interview, Brad Pitt reflects on his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, confronting pain, and rebuilding himself following his turbulent split from Angelina Jolie.

June 26, 2025 In an unguarded and emotional revelation, Brad Pitt has opened up about the moment he knew he had to change — a moment that began with his very first Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting following his high-profile divorce from Angelina Jolie.

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Appearing on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, the 61-year-old Oscar-winning actor described the emotional depths he faced after the couple’s 2016 split. “I needed rebooting,” Pitt said plainly. “I needed to wake the f*ck up in some areas.”

The actor’s candor surprised Shepard, who admitted to being awestruck by Pitt’s honesty. “You were so f*cking honest,” Shepard told him. “You refused to let the fame or drama keep you from being a person.”

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Pitt didn’t see it as resilience at the time. “I was pretty much on my back, on my knees,” he recalled. “It was a particularly difficult time. I was really open to anything. I was trying anything that anyone threw at me.”

Breaking the Silence, Breaking the Cycle

The room, Pitt said, gave him what years of silence could not — permission to be vulnerable. “Everyone was so open. It gave me permission to go, ‘OK, I’m going to step out on this edge and see what happens.’ Then I just really grew to love it.”

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The experience was a stark contrast to Pitt’s conservative upbringing in the Ozarks of Missouri, where emotional repression was the norm and “everything’s great” was the expected response to any problem. “That doesn’t fly anymore,” he said.

The 2016 Jet Incident and Fallout

Pitt’s battle with alcohol had been widely speculated upon, but it was the 2016 private jet incident — during which he allegedly became physically aggressive toward Jolie and their children — that brought it into public view. While no charges were filed by either the FBI or the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services, the episode became a defining moment in the couple’s split.

Though legal filings painted a dark picture, Pitt has since chosen a path of healing, accountability, and introspection.

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Tags: Brad Pitt, Brad Pitt AA, Angelina Jolie divorce, celebrity rehab, Hollywood news, Armchair Expert podcast, Brad Pitt alcoholism, emotional health, celebrity breakups, addiction recovery