Brad Pitt finally admits: Boozing ruined my marriage
BRAD PITT ON HIS DEMONS AND SPLIT WITH ANGELINA
BRAD Pitt has spoken about his marriage split for the first time and admitted he was boozing so much he could “drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka”.
The 53-year-old Hollywood heart-throb said his divorce from actress Angelina Jolie, with whom he shares six children, had been “like a death” which had ripped the family apart.
He confessed to becoming a “professional” drinker but that he had now been sober for six months after realising he had to stop running away from his feelings.
Pitt, star of a string of movies including Fight Club and Ocean’s Eleven, opened up in an interview with GQ Style magazine.
For the mag’s summer issue he took part in an eight-day photo shoot in US national parks, featuring on a series of different front covers which show his dramatic weight loss.
He admitted the divorce, which he described as “jarring” for the children, had been “self-inflicted”.
He also revealed he went through two therapists before choosing one that he liked.
Pitt and Jolie’s 12-year relationship came to an end when he allegedly attacked son Maddox, 15, on a private jet last September 14.
Jolie, 41, filed for divorce five days later, ending their two years of marriage.
In the interview Pitt said he spent a month and a half after the split staying with a friend because he did not want to be at home.
He said: “This house was always chaotic and crazy, voices and bangs coming from everywhere. And then as you see there are days like this, very, very solemn.”
Pitt is now spending his time creating art and focusing on his latest film War Machine.
Reflecting on the split, he said: “I was boozing too much. It’s become a problem and I’m really happy it’s been a half a year now. 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.
“This period has really been about looking at my own weaknesses and failures and owning my side of the street.”
After the divorce papers were filed Pitt was investigated by the FBI and the LA County Department of Children and Family Services but both are said to have closed their inquiries.
In his own court submissions Pitt said Jolie had “no self-regulating mechanism” because she was airing personal issues to the press.
However both now appear to be moving towards a resolution and have sealed the legal papers.
Pitt said: “I heard one lawyer say, ‘No-one wins in court’. Fortunately my partner in this agrees.
“It’s just very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart.”
He added that his new mantra was: “Family first. People on their deathbeds don’t talk about what they obtained or what they were awarded. They talk about their loved ones.” Jolie, who starred with Pitt in 2005 flick Mr & Mrs Smith as contract killers unwittingly married to each other, has already spoken out about the divorce saying: “We are a family and we will get through this.”
She has also said Pitt is a “wonderful father” but that the split was for the “health” of their family.
Pitt told GQ Style that his divorce had been a “weird” time but denied he was going through a midlife crisis. Instead, he said he was finally addressing issues he had been ignoring for a long time.
He summed it up by saying that “the avoidance of pain is a real mistake”.
He confessed: “I can’t remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn’t boozing or had a spliff, or something. And you realise that a lot of it is, um, cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And I’m running from feelings.
“I’m really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean, I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family.
“But even this last year, you know – things I wasn’t dealing with. I was boozing too much.”
On confronting his emotions he added: “I’ve got my feelings in my fingertips again. I think that’s part of the human challenge. You either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve.”
Pitt agreed the divorce had felt “like a death” and that explaining it to his children was difficult.
He said: “Well, there’s a lot to tell them because there’s understanding the future, there’s understanding the immediate moment and why we’re at this point.
“And then it brings up a lot of issues from the past that we haven’t talked about. So our focus is that everyone comes out stronger and better people – there is no other outcome.”
‘The divorce feels like a death. It has ripped family apart’
‘I’m looking at my failures, owning my side of the street’