Why Brad Pitt Had to Remove His ‘Drinking Privileges’
Brad Pitt is undergoing a very unique career resurgence. The Hollywood heartthrob took a lengthy break from the big screen for several years but has recently made a comeback, to the delight of thousands of fans who still love the star.
The actor is typically a very private person and steers away from tell-all interviews, but he recently sat down with The New York Times to discuss the fallout surrounding his marriage and divorce from Angelina Jolie, his plans for the future, and the heartbreaking reason that he decided to quit drinking.
Brad Pitt is a beloved actor
Beginning in the early ’90s, the whole world was seemingly obsessed with Brad Pitt. After career-boosting roles in Thelma & Louise, Legends of the Fall, and A River Runs Through It, Pitt started to earn a reputation as a versatile actor who also happened to be one of the most attractive men in entertainment.
He received widespread critical acclaim after serious dramatic roles in Fight Club and Seven, while his personal life was the subject of intense speculation.
Into the 2000s, Brad Pitt continued his career hot streak. Roles in Troy, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith, opposite his future wife, Angelina Jolie, were hits with critics and audiences alike. Still, it wouldn’t be too long before Pitt would start to suffer from negative press and rumors of alcohol and substance abuse.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s bitter divorce
In 2005, following the filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Pitt and Jennifer Aniston separated. The public speculated that it was his budding relationship with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith costar, Angelina Jolie, that was the cause of their split.
The following year, Pitt and Jolie went public with their affair, and in short order, had begun their family. Jolie and Pitt would ultimately welcome three biological children and three adopted children.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt didn’t get married until 2014 when they tied the knot in a private wedding ceremony. All was not well in paradise, however, and in September 2016, Jolie filed for divorce from her husband of two years.
The divorce would end up taking nearly three years, with Pitt and Jolie arguing in court over custody of their six children, and bitter accusations on both sides. While fans speculated about the reason for the divorce, citing differences in parental styles, everything kept circling around to the subject of Pitt’s drinking.
Why did Pitt quit drinking?
Following the divorce from Jolie, rumors spread that Pitt had a difficult relationship with his kids and in particular, was estranged from his eldest son, Maddox. Maddox and Pitt have an interesting relationship. Jolie adopted Maddox from Cambodia prior to beginning her relationship with Pitt, with Pitt going on to formally adopt the boy in 2004.
Reportedly, Maddox doesn’t really consider Pitt to be his father these days and doesn’t have much communication with him.
Pitt has begun to try and repair the broken pieces of his family circle in recent months. In his talk with The New York Times, Pitt touched briefly on the problems with Jolie and his children, stating that he has had “family stuff going on” for a while.
He was more open about his problems with alcohol, admitting that he spent a year and a half in Alcoholics Anonymous following his split from Jolie because he had “taken things as far as he could take it.”
For that reason, Pitt decided it was time to “remove his drinking privileges.” Pitt admitted that talking to others about his drinking problem was “really freeing,” and that he was happy to have found a safe space with little judgment.
Brad Pitt has come back in a big way, and as he works on his career and his family, his fans will be supporting him every step of the way.
