Angelina Jolie was reportedly “not surprised” to learn that Brad Pitt had ended his sobriety, according to an insider, after the actor shocked fans by admitting he had started drinking again following seven years sober.
Pitt, 62, gave up alcohol after his split from Jolie, 51, which came amid allegations that he poured alcohol on her and their children during a turbulent 2016 private jet flight. He has denied the accusations.
The actor and winery owner later said he had walked away from drinking and had been confronting personal struggles through Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. But in an interview with Esquire UK published Monday, Pitt revealed he had “gotten back off the wagon.”
The former Hollywood power couple, whose bitter divorce battle took eight years to finalize, have remained at the center of ongoing family turmoil. Several of Pitt’s children have appeared to align themselves publicly with Jolie, with some choosing to stop using his surname.
Following Pitt’s revelation about alcohol, a source close to Jolie told Rob Shuter’s Naughty But Nice column: “Angelina is not surprised. She tried to warn people. She knew this was always a possibility.”
The insider further claimed that Jolie had “long believed that sobriety did not necessarily mean the underlying problems [Brad had] had disappeared.”
Angelina Jolie was reportedly “not surprised” after Brad Pitt revealed he had broken his sobriety following seven years sober. The former couple are pictured above in 2015
Pitt first became sober after his split from Jolie, which followed allegations involving alcohol during a volatile private jet flight in 2016. The pair are pictured above at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009
‘She doesn’t believe Brad has fundamentally changed. She believes Brad is who Brad is, and no amount of sobriety or reinvention changes that,’ the insider added.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Jolie and Pitt for comment and has yet to hear back.
In the wide-ranging interview with Esquire, the actor admitted he had gotten ‘back off the wagon’ after the interviewer noticed the star had offered him a glass of wine.
When asked if the beverage was for guests, Pitt responded: ‘No, I got – I was sober for seven years. And then I got back off the wagon,’ he said, offering a little laugh.
‘In a more restrained manner. I got overconfident a couple times, went, “Yep, nope, not good for me.” Not in big quantities.’
Pitt clarified he was now able to ‘have a few’ glasses of wine but is unable to indulge any further.
‘Yeah. Well… I can have a few. But I can’t have a lot. I have to be professional about it,’ Pitt said.
‘He likes mornings now anyway, and you can miss a lovely morning when you drink too much the night before, and it’s just not as interesting,’ the profile noted of Pitt. ‘Mornings are interesting, and he doesn’t want any more of them to go by unseen.’
The revelation that Pitt has started drinking again comes amid his painful family drama.
The actor, who is now dating jewelry executive Ines de Ramon, has been embroiled in a bitter legal battle with his ex, Angelina Jolie, for years, and the split has seemingly exposed his fractured relationship with their children.
Pitt is drinking again but at a reduced rate. Pictured at the SAG Awards in 2009
Pitt has had a complicated relationship with alcohol that is alleged to have been the source of issues he has suffered with his family
Last month, their daughter Vivienne, 18, followed in the footsteps of her three older siblings and filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court to drop Pitt from her name.
The reason behind the teenager’s name change is listed as ‘personal,’ according to court documents obtained by Our News Outlet. An official court hearing is scheduled for November 2.
Their daughter Zahara and son Maddox also published notices revealing their intentions to drop Pitt from their last names.
The advertisements were both published in the Los Angeles Daily Journal throughout June and July.
Last year, Shiloh, who was born Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, legally changed her name to Shiloh Jolie. Aside from Pax, Vivienne’s twin brother Knox is the only other sibling who has yet to formally drop the actor’s surname.
Pitt has had a complicated relationship with alcohol that is alleged to have been the source of issues he has suffered with his family.
His marriage with Jolie ended after a volatile plane incident in 2016 in which the actor was accused of being physically abusive towards both his wife and two of their children.
In a 2022 court filing, Jolie alleged Pitt had been drinking during the flight and poured alcohol on herself and the children, according to CNN.
‘At one point, he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children.’
Pitt denied the allegations and he was never charged in connection with the alleged incident following an FBI investigation.
A source close to Pitt told CNN at the time the court filing was released: ‘All parties have had this information for nearly six years and was used in previous legal proceedings. There is nothing new here and serves no purpose other than being a media stunt meant to inflict pain.’
A year after his split from Jolie, self-proclaimed ‘professional’ drinker Pitt was sober.
Pitt and Jolie’s family drama has come to light since their split. Pitt is pictured with Maddox in 2010
Zahara and Maddox have both taken steps to legally drop ‘Pitt’ from their name; Pax, Jolie, Zahara and Maddox pictured in 2024
Pitt said he was now drinking in a more ‘restrained manner’ during his interview with Esquire
‘I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground,’ he told GQ in 2017. ‘I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good.’
For a year and a half, Pitt was in Alcoholics Anonymous, confiding in other men about the ‘ugly sides’ of himself.
‘You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard,’ he told The New York Times. ‘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,’ he said. ‘There’s great value in that.’
Pitt’s relationship with alcohol went beyond personal and into business.
During their marriage, Pitt and Jolie bought the French winery Chateau Miraval, a property that is now at the center of their legal ordeal.
Jolie sold her stake in it in part because of Pitt’s ‘acknowledged problem of alcohol abuse on their family.’
Pitt has been dating jewelry executive Ines de Ramon since 2022. They’re seen together in July
During their marriage, Pitt and Jolie bought the French winery Chateau Miraval, pictured in 2023. The exes are now locked in a bitter legal battle over it
Jolie was motivated to sell her stake in the winery in part because of Pitt’s ‘acknowledged problem of alcohol abuse on their family’
For a year and a half, Pitt was in Alcoholics Anonymous, confiding in other men about the ‘ugly sides’ of himself. He’s pictured in a 2020 promo photo for his wine
Pitt addressed the ‘family stuff’ during his Esquire interview, admitting he battled suicidal thoughts amid his estrangement from his children with his ex-wife.
The actor explained how the pain he felt was so ‘oppressive’ and, while he would never act on it, he struggled to see a way out.
He told Esquire UK: ‘I was never suicidal in any way. It just was not my makeup. In fact, if I have any afflictions, it’s probably being a congenital optimist. Which has helped many times, and it’s also gotten me – I’ve walked foolishly head-on into a Mack truck because of my optimism.
‘Or, as my forever-funny friend David Fincher will say, “Yeah, you see the glass as half full, but it’s half full of urine.”
‘Anyway, I’ve never been suicidal except for one little period. And in that one little period, I just thought – I just couldn’t – just didn’t see a way out. The pain was so oppressive that – I wasn’t going to act on this, but I could feel – I could feel the cold steel of the bullet in my head, and it felt like relief.
‘And I thought, “Oh, okay, now I understand” – I understand suicide, in the sense that it’s just relief. It’s just looking for relief from the pain.
‘But I also think we have incredible survival instincts. And for me, that immediately kicked in, but it was just…Yeah. Like, listen: This s**t ain’t easy…And you’re talking to a guy who won the lottery.’
When quizzed by the interviewer, Pitt confirmed he was talking about ‘family stuff.’
Now in his sixties, Pitt shows no signs of slowing down. His next film, Heart of the Beast, a man-and-his-dog story, will be coming out this fall, followed by Quentin Tarantino’s The Adventures of Cliff Booth, in which he stars as a Hollywood stuntman.
He just wrapped up the thriller The Riders a few weeks ago.
But Pitt says he longs to be in his fifties again.
He told Esquire: ‘God, I want my fifties back…I would do more. Your fifties are just – man, anything that’s on your mind, go. Go attack it. Go attack it now.’
If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.
