Brad Pitt Discusses First AA Meeting After Challenging Divorce…

Brad Pitt opened up about his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting on the “Armchair Expert” podcast, revealing he hit rock bottom following his divorce from Angelina Jolie. He sought help, feeling the need to ‘wake the f–k up’. His struggles with alcohol have been public, and he noted that attending AA was a liberating experience.

Once upon a time in Tinseltown, Brad Pitt opened up about his emotional journey back to sobriety during his first Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting. Speaking candidly on the latest episode of the “Armchair Expert” podcast – hosted by Dax Shepard – the 61-year-old actor admitted he was at a low point in his life, feeling like he was “pretty much on [his] knees.” He noted that he desperately needed to “wake the f–k up” after the tumultuous split from Angelina Jolie.

During his enlightening chat, Pitt described the experience as nothing short of “amazing”. It seems he tried just about everything during that tough time. “I was trying anything and everything, anything anyone threw at me… It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting,” he shared, shedding light on the struggles he faced post-divorce. For the record, while he didn’t pinpoint when that fateful AA meeting was, he did mention to the New York Times that he dedicated a year and a half to attending meetings following his 2016 breakup with Jolie.

Dax Shepard didn’t hold back in praising Pitt’s honesty during the podcast – and honestly, who doesn’t love a bit of sincere sharing? As his turn came around the circle at the meeting, Pitt felt a wave of trepidation but was uplifted by the openness of others. “It gives you permission to go, ‘OK, I’m gonna step out on this edge and see what happens,’” he recalled, indicating he eventually grew fond of these gatherings.

Pitt shared how Shepard’s own truthfulness had a significant impact on him, likening the longtime host to

. ‘an elder statesman.'” He noted that the humour Shepard injected into his words made it all the more relatable and enjoyable. Hailing from the Ozarks, where he grew up witnessing men insisting that “everything is great,” Pitt embraced the candid nature of the meetings. “Men sharing their experiences with their foibles…and a lot of humor with it is incredible,” he gushed. Interesting tidbit: when Pitt first went public about attending AA, he faced some backlash. However, he described the process as “freeing” because it allowed him to expose the “ugly sides” of himself. In a 2019 interview, he stated, “I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privileges.” Pretty powerful stuff, right? It’s worth noting that his struggles with alcohol were tied to the fracturing of his marriage with Jolie, which dramatically unravelled after a heated incident on a plane in 2016. In court documents, Jolie alleged that Pitt committed physical harm against her and one of their six children. Despite all the chaos, the former couple were declared legally single in 2019, and their divorce was finalised last year. Currently, Pitt is seeing girlfriend Ines de Ramon, but his relationship with his eldest kids seems to be facing some turbulence. Reportedly, he’s made “several efforts to reconnect,” yet he only manages to see Knox and Vivienne on occasion. In a rather striking move, Vivienne has even taken to distancing herself by ditching her dad’s last name on the 2024 “Outsiders” playbill, following in the footsteps of Zahara and Shiloh, who have also made similar choices. Family dynamics can really be a wild ride, can’t they?

Original Source: pagesix.com