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Back in 2016, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were involved in an altercation aboard a private jet.
The incident — which was witnessed by the couple’s children — was so severe that Jolie filed for divorce shortly thereafter.
For his part, Brad responded by swearing off alcohol and drugs for good, a process he’s now opening up about like never before.
Brad Pitt opens up about early days of sobriety
During a recent appearance on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, Pitt opened up to the host (who is also a former addict) about his struggle to get sober following the plane incident.
“I was pretty much on my back, you know, or on my knees,” Pitt said of his decision to get sober.
He added that, like millions of others before him, he found the help he needed through Alcoholics Anonymous.
“I was trying anything and everyone. Anything anyone threw at me. It was a particularly difficult time. I needed rebooting. I needed to wake the f— up in some areas. And it just meant a lot to me,” Pitt added.
The exact nature of the plane altercation remains somewhat unclear, but after years of legal wrangling, Pitt and Jole finalized their divorce in December of 2024.
Pitt discusses ‘the most unhealthy time’ in his life
While it may may have been the events aboard that flight that convinced Brad to get sober, he says there were many previous low points in his life before that.
“I would wake up, I would get a bong load, I would have four Coca-Colas on ice, no food,” Pitt said of one particularly dark period in the mid-1990s.
“This particular summer, I watched the O.J. trial, and I was just trying to figure out, ‘What do I do next? What do I do next?’”
Pitt — who is currently making the media rounds to promote his new movie F1 — credits director David Fincher with reinvigorating his love of acting by casting him in Seven and Fight Club.
An empathetic host
As a testament to how stressful early sobriety can be, Shepard shared a tale from one of his first Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
“Eric Dane, who I now f–king love, I have such a sweetness for him. But when we first were around each other, it was not good. He threatened a dude in the meeting, and I said, ‘Let’s go, motherf–ker,’” he said.
“He goes, ‘If you hit that timer again, I’m gonna f–king throw you in that candle,’” Shepard continued. “And I go, ‘That’s it, motherf–ker. Let’s go. Stand up, let’s go outside.’ He stands up, we go outside and I’m about to beat the f–k out of him — at an AA meeting, where we’re coming for healing and understanding.”
We think it’s safe to say that Brad and Dax have both engaged in some behavior they’re not terribly proud of. But at least they eventually recognized the need to seek help.