“I got back off the wagon,” Pitt, who stopped drinking after his split from ex-wife Angelina Jolie, said


Brad Pitt in 2024 Credit: Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

Brad Pitt is no longer sober.

Speaking with Esquire for a profile published Monday, Aug. 10, the 62-year-old actor — who previously revealed he joined a 12-step program following his split from ex-wife Angelina Jolie — shared that he decided to end his sobriety from alcohol after seven years.

After Pitt offered Esquire's Ryan D'Agostino wine, the interviewer asked if the drink is available only for guests — prompting the F1 star to reveal that he partakes in alcohol now in moderation.

"No, I got — I was sober for seven years. And then I got back off the wagon," Pitt said with a laugh.

Now, the actor said he drinks alcohol "in a more restrained manner."

"I got overconfident a couple times, went, Yep, nope, not good for me," he explained in the Esquire interview. "Not in big quantities."

Asked if this means he can enjoy a glass of wine, the Ocean's 11 actor then added, "Yeah. Well?.?.?.?I can have a few. But I can't have a lot. I have to be professional about it."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The Fight Club actor gave up drinking in 2016 after splitting from ex-wife Jolie, 51, with whom he shares six children. She filed for divorce from Pitt days after they allegedly got into a dispute while flying from France to Los Angeles in the couple's private plane.

Over the years, Pitt has been open about his sobriety journey, speaking about it in several interviews.

In 2017, Pitt told GQ that he couldn't remember "a day" after leaving college when he "wasn't boozing or had a spliff, or something."

The star, who said he was six months sober at the time, also told GQ that he "stopped everything except boozing when I started my family," and then realized he was "boozing too much" in 2016. "I'm really happy it's been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I've got my feelings in my fingertips again," he said of his sobriety from alcohol at the time.

In 2019, Pitt discussed his sobriety — and specifically, the year and a half he spent in a 12-step program after Jolie filed for divorce — in an in-depth chat with The New York Times.

"You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard. It was this safe space where there was little judgment, and therefore little judgment of yourself," he told the outlet of his time in the program. "It was actually really freeing just to expose the ugly sides of yourself," the Oscar winner added of the experience. "There's great value in that."

Pitt has also credited his friend and fellow actor Bradley Cooper for his sobriety in his acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor at the 2020 National Board of Review Annual Awards Gala.

"I got sober because of this guy and every day has been happier ever since," Pitt said of Cooper, 51, who presented him with the award.

Source