Brad Pitt Reveals Turning to AA Amid Divorce From Angelina Jolie for ‘Wake Up’ Call: ‘Was on My Knees…’

Brad Pitt opens up about his powerful experience in Alcoholics Anonymous after his split from Angelina Jolie. Here's everything you need to know.

Written by Sakina Kaukawala , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Jun 24, 2025 | 12:48 PM IST | 22K

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (via Getty Images)

Brad Pitt is opening up about how Alcoholics Anonymous helped him after his split from Angelina Jolie. In a new interview on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, released Monday, June 23, the actor called his time in AA an 'incredible' and 'really special' experience.

"I was pretty much on my back, on my knees," Pitt said, reflecting on the period following his 2016 divorce from Angelina Jolie. "I was trying anything anyone threw at me. It was a particularly difficult time. I needed rebooting. I needed to wake the [expletive] up, in some areas."

Brad Pitt, who spent over a year in Alcoholics Anonymous, previously opened up about his sobriety journey in a 2019 New York Times profile. He joined the program after Jolie filed for divorce, which led to years of legal battles, including custody issues and abuse allegations that Pitt has denied.

Here's what Brad Pitt said on his AA experience

During the podcast, Pitt spoke about his experience attending AA meetings, calling them 'amazing' and mentioning the honesty and vulnerability shared by those in the group. He described how men would openly talk about their experiences, mistakes, desires, and struggles, often with humor, and said it was a truly special experience.

Shepard, who also met Pitt through AA, brought up the honesty involved in such meetings and asked whether Pitt had felt nervous speaking publicly with someone he met in that setting. Pitt responded that he felt quite at ease. He recalled feeling shy when he first joined, but shared that he didn't hesitate to open up. "I was really open," he shared. "I was trying anything and everyone. It just meant a lot to me."

Here's what Brad Pitt shared about sobriety and therapy

Pitt said that after a few sessions, he began to look forward to AA meetings. He said that it became something he would look forward to. "There's a great value in exposing the ugly sides of yourself. It was really freeing," he said.

He also discussed being accountable for past mistakes. He said that when he has used an expletive, he is pretty good at taking responsibility for it and owning up to it. He added, "Now it's a quest to, you know, 'What do I do with this? How can I right this?'"

Pitt also talked about his experience in therapy, calling his approach 'desperate' at the time. "When I jumped into therapy then, I was just like, 'And I did this and I did that and da da da da.'"

While Pitt appreciated the group, he shared in a 2024 GQ interview that members of Alcoholics Anonymous were not happy when he spoke about his experience publicly. He shared that they reminded him that the group is meant to be anonymous. Pitt said he wasn't revealing anyone else's identity and questioned why it was an issue, stating that everyone already knows the group exists.

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