Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Gareth Cattermole
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s split in 2016 was one of Hollywood’s most shocking and talked about breakups. The couple, who had been together for over a decade and married for two years, seemed like they had it all. However, behind the glimmer was a more complex reality. Once, in a candid interview, Pitt opened up about the struggles that led to their separation, admitting that his problem with alcohol played a prominent role. He said, “I hit the lottery and I still would waste my time on those hollow pursuits.”
The final nail in the coffin came after an alleged altercation on a private plane involving their eldest son, Maddox. Reports indicated that a confrontation between a drunken Pitt and Jolie escalated when Maddox stepped in to defend his mother. This incident reportedly triggered Jolie to file for divorce the very next day, sending shockwaves in Tinseltown.
As per The Sun, Pitt confessed, “I mean, we have a winery. I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground. I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka…I can’t remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn’t boozing or had a spliff or something. 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. It’s just become a problem.”
Angelina Jolie’s email to Brad Pitt in 2021 about her decision to sell her shares of the Miraval winery.
‘I do not feel I can be involved, publicly, or privately, in a business based on alcohol, when alcoholic behaviour harmed our family so deeply’ 😢 #IStandWithAngelinaJolie pic.twitter.com/s0IJzJwxxv
— CoraMel (@cora_melodie_) June 16, 2023
The divorce was a wake-up call for Pitt. It pushed him to quit drinking and seek therapy. He realized that he needed to change not just for himself, but for his children. He remarked, “It’s hit me smack in the face with our divorce. I gotta be more. I gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven’t been great at it. Kids are so delicate. They absorb everything. They need to have their hand held and things explained. They need to be listened to. When I get in that busy work mode, I’m not hearing. I want to be better at that.”
Pitt added, “I just started therapy. I love it. I love it. I went through two therapists to get to the right one.” Jolie and Pitt decided to handle their divorce privately. He said, “No one wins in court, it’s just a matter of who gets hurt worse…You spend a year just focused on building a case to prove your point and why you’re right and why they’re wrong, and it’s just an investment in vitriolic hatred. I just refused and fortunately, my partner in this agreed. It’s just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart,” as reported by CBS News.
Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Michael Kovac
Jolie, too emphasized, “It was a very difficult time and we are a family. We will always be a family and we will get through this time. Many people find themselves in this situation…We’ve all been through a difficult time and my focus is my children, our children, and my focus is finding this way through…We are and forever will be a family and so that is how I am coping. I am coping with finding a way through to make sure that this somehow makes us stronger and closer.”
