Brad Pitt on attending AA meetings after his split from Angelina Jolie

In 2016, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s relationship came under serious scrutiny after they filed for divorce after two years of marriage.

Angelina, who shares six children with Brad, cited “irreconcilable differences” in the divorce papers, but they went on to endure a highly publicized and exceptionally complicated breakup as they feuded over their shared assets and shared custody.

At the heart of the custody battle was an alleged altercation between Brad and his then 15-year-old eldest son Maddox on the family’s private plane. Maddox is said to have testified against Brad in court during his parents’ dispute.

Brad was investigated by the FBI after the claims, with the actor reportedly telling authorities that although he yelled at his son, he had not attempted to physically harm him, Angelina or any of their children.

He was eventually acquitted of the charges, but in October 2021 Angelina told the Guardian that she felt “broken” amid the “terrible” ongoing custody battle and said she feared for the safety of her “entire family” during their marriage.

“I’m not the type of person to make decisions like the decisions I’ve had to make lightly,” she told the publication. “It cost me a lot to get into a position where I felt I had to separate from the father of my children.”

In 2017, Brad admitted his struggle with alcohol was a factor in the breakdown of his relationship, telling Britain’s GQ, “I can’t remember a day since leaving college that I wasn’t drinking or having one drank a joint or something. Some. And you realize that a lot of them are pacifiers. And I’m running from feelings I’m really, really happy to be done with all of this.”

“I mean, I quit everything except drinking when I started my family,” Brad added. “But even this past year, you know, things I haven’t bothered with. I drank too much. It’s just become a problem.”

Discussing the extent of his drinking, Brad said he “could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka” and that he’s a “pro” when it comes to drinking, but he decided to quit because he could didn’t. don’t want to live like that anymore.”

Brad also spoke openly about Child Protection’s investigation into him, saying: “I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Protection was called. And you know, after that we were able to work together to sort that out. We both do our best.”

And the star has opened up about his ongoing commitment to sobriety in a new interview with GQ, in which he said he spent 18 months as a member of a “really private and selective” Alcoholics Anonymous group that made him feel “to be sure.

Brad also said privacy is a big factor for him, as he knows of other people being secretly recorded in their most vulnerable moments by members of their AA groups.

“I had a really cool men’s group here that was very private and selective, so it was safe,” he explained. “Because I’ve seen things of other people being taped pouring out their guts and it’s just horrifying to me.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Brad said he believes he’s spent years with undiagnosed “mild depression,” but he’s finally found “joy.”

“I think joy is a more recent discovery, later in life,” he told the publication. “I was always going with the current, drifting in one direction and on to the next. I think I spent years with a bit of depression, and it wasn’t until I came to terms with it and tried to embrace all sides of myself – the beautiful and the ugly – that I was able to capture those moments of joy.”

While Brad and Angelina now appear to be on better terms when it comes to child custody, they’ve been at odds over another legal battle in recent months.

In early June, Brad accused his ex-wife of intentionally harming him and damaging the reputation of their joint wine company after she reportedly sold her shares to a “stranger with toxic associations and intentions”.

The former couple had previously acquired a majority stake in French wine company Château Miraval for €25m in 2008, with each owning 50% of the shares.

Sources previously told Page Six that Brad and Angelina had agreed to ask each other’s permission if they ever wanted to sell their shares, but Angelina reportedly tried to go through with a sale without consulting Brad in September.

In legal filings, Brad accused Angelina of not giving him an opportunity to either buy her out or refuse to sell her, and it was later reported that Angelina had been approved to sell her shares to a third party.

Brad filed another lawsuit this month alleging that Angelina acted unlawfully by selling her shares to a Luxembourg-based liquor company controlled by a Russian oligarch, Yuri Shefler, without his knowledge.

Brad’s attorneys have argued that Angelina’s choice of the person for the sale was her way of forcing Brad into dealings with “a stranger with toxic associations and intentions,” which would jeopardize the company’s reputation.

Brad is seeking a jury trial to make Angelina’s sale “null and void” and is also seeking undeclared damages.

Meanwhile, there has recently been speculation that Angelina may be trying to challenge the FBI’s decision to clear Brad of child molestation charges under the Freedom of Information Act.

In April, Entertainment Tonight obtained legal documents from an anonymous woman seeking information about the FBI’s investigation that directly matches the description of the 2016 incident between Brad and Maddox.

“A few years ago, when the plaintiff, her then-husband and their children, all of whom were minors at the time, were traveling on a private plane, the husband allegedly physically and verbally assaulted the plaintiff and the children,” the documents read.

The lawsuit adds that the complaint is part of the woman’s efforts to “better understand the FBI’s investigation and obtain information necessary for her children to receive medical care and trauma counseling.”