Brad Pitt has told Esquire that he has started drinking again after seven years of sobriety, but that he is doing so carefully and in limited amounts. The revelation adds a new chapter to the actor’s much-publicised personal journey following a widely reported split and a long period of recovery.
Taking stock after a tumultuous spell
The interview, published on Monday, comes after a prolonged, highly public divorce process that began with Angelina Jolie filing to end their marriage in 2016 and which was the focus of litigation stretching to 2024. Pitt has previously credited Alcoholics Anonymous and friends in the industry with helping him through the early stages of his recovery.
Speaking candidly, Pitt said he had been sober for seven years and has now "got back off the wagon" — though he emphasised he has not returned to heavy drinking. On the subject of limits, he told Esquire he can have a few drinks but cannot consume large quantities, and that he seeks to be disciplined when he does drink.
"I was sober for seven years. And then I got back off the wagon."
He also reflected on the emotional toll of what he called "family stuff," admitting that during his darkest moments he could see suicide as a release, but that his survival instincts prevailed. The interview touches on grief and the slow, ongoing work of coping and recovery rather than quick fixes.
Where recovery has featured in his public life
Pitt has not been shy about acknowledging those who helped him. In 2020 he publicly thanked actor Bradley Cooper at the National Board of Review awards for supporting his sobriety, saying Cooper played a significant role in his journey. Later conversations, including a 2025 appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, saw Pitt speak positively about his experience with the 12-step programme and the responsibilities he felt to confront his behaviour.
In the Esquire piece he admitted to occasional overconfidence that led to relapse, but framed his present approach as one of restraint and professionalism. He used frank language to describe his character traits and his willingness to own mistakes while attempting not to repeat them.
- Sobriety duration: seven years before recent resumption of drinking.
- Public acknowledgements: credited Bradley Cooper and Alcoholics Anonymous in prior remarks.
- Context: long, public divorce with Angelina Jolie (filed 2016) and litigation continuing to 2024.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Angelina Jolie filed to end the marriage |
| 2020 | Pitt publicly thanks Bradley Cooper for help with sobriety |
| 2024 | Divorce litigation described as concluding |
| 2026 | Esquire interview in which Pitt says he has resumed drinking |
For readers who follow celebrities’ recovery stories, the interview offers an unvarnished account of the unpredictability of sobriety and the long-term effort many undertake to manage it. Pitt’s comments steer away from glamourising relapse; instead, he frames his current relationship with alcohol as calculated and limited.
That balanced tone is notable because Pitt, a multi-award-winning actor, has previously spoken about how addiction and personal conflict shaped both his life and work. In interviews across the past several years he has discussed not only the practical steps he took to get sober, but also the emotional grappling that informed that decision — grief, responsibility and the desire not to repeat harmful patterns.
Whether the modest reintroduction of drinking marks a long-term shift or a carefully managed experiment remains his personal matter. What is clear from the Esquire conversation is that Pitt is conscious of boundaries and is presenting this change as a deliberate, measured choice rather than a return to past excesses.
From a cultural perspective, such accounts from high-profile figures can shape public conversation about sobriety, relapse and harm reduction. Pitt’s willingness to speak about the complexity of those experiences — without sugar-coating or sermonising — keeps the focus on the practicalities of staying well in the spotlight.
For readers who have followed his public life, the interview is less a sensational revelation than a continuation of a long, often painful, but evidently ongoing process of self-examination and recovery.
