Brad Pitt confesses he’s no longer sober after seven years: I’m ‘back off the wagon’

Brad Pitt revealed he broke his sobriety after seven years.

“I was sober for seven years. And then I got back off the wagon,” Pitt said with a laugh in an Esquire interview published on Monday.

“In a more restrained manner. I got overconfident a couple times, went, Yep, nope, not good for me,” he explained. “Not in big quantities.”

Brad Pitt (seen here on the cover of Esquire Magazine) revealed he broke his sobriety after seven years. CHANTAL ANDERSON/ Esquire
Pitt (pictured here) told the outlet he “got back off the wagon.” CHANTAL ANDERSON/ Esquire
Pitt (seen here) admitted he “got overconfident a couple times” before he decided drinking was “not good for me.” CHANTAL ANDERSON/ Esquire

Pitt’s sobriety came up after he offered wine to the interviewer for their sit-down at the actor’s $12 million Los Angeles home.

After revealing he’s no longer sober, Pitt explained he “can have a few” glasses of wine, but he “can’t have a lot.”

“I have to be professional about it,” he told the reporter.

The Oscar winner (seen here) said he “can have a few glasses of wine” but “not a lot.” CHANTAL ANDERSON/ Esquire
Pitt (pictured above) got sober in 2016 after his split from Angelina Jolie. CHANTAL ANDERSON/ Esquire

Elsewhere in the interview, Pitt — who split from ex-wife Angelina Jolie in 2016 — revealed he felt “suicidal” while navigating “one little period” of “family stuff.”

“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,” the “Fight Club” actor said.

Pitt quit drinking after an alleged 2016 drunken plane incident which is said to have contributed to the downfall of his and Jolie’s marriage.

Jolie, 51, claimed in court documents that her then-husband physically harmed her and one of their six kids — Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 18.

The “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” co-stars were declared legally single in 2019 and settled their divorce last year.

Pitt (seen here with Jolie in 2015) was allegedly drunk during an altercation on a plane that is said to contributed to the downfall of their marriage. Getty Images
Pitt and Jolie (seen above in 2006) share six children. AFP via Getty Images

Pitt — who is allegedly estranged from his eldest children — first revealed he was sober and joined a 12-step program in a 2019 New York Times interview.

“I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privilege,” he said at the time.

Last year, Pitt detailed his “amazing” first AA meeting on Dax Shephard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, recalling being “pretty much on [his] knees” and needing “to wake the f–k up in some areas.”

He explained, “I was trying anything and everything, anything anyone threw at me. … It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting.”

Pitt (pictured above in 2014) is allegedly estranged from his eldest children. Getty Images
Pitt (seen above at the “F1” photocall in Mexico City in June 2025) has opened up about his sobriety over the years. Getty Images

The “F1” star also admitted that while it felt daunting as his turn was “coming around” the circle, he felt inspired after watching “everyone [being] so open.”

He remembered, “It gives you permission to go, ‘OK, I’m gonna step out on this edge and see what happens.’ And then I really grew to love it.”

If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). 

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