‘Back Off the Wagon’: Brad Pitt Says He’s Drinking Again After 7 Years Sober

Brad Pitt is seen June 6 at the Roland Garros 2026 tennis competition at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. (Photo: Sipa via AP Images)

Brad Pitt has revealed that he is no longer sober after spending seven years without alcohol, saying he has returned to drinking but now approaches it with more restraint.

Pitt discussed his changing relationship with alcohol in an interview with Esquire published Monday, saying that after seven years of sobriety, he “got back off the wagon.”

The 62-year-old actor said he now drinks in a more controlled manner but has learned that consuming too much alcohol does not work for him.

“I can have a few, but I can’t have a lot,” Pitt said. “I have to be professional about it.”

Pitt’s decision to stop drinking followed a difficult period in his personal life. He turned to Alcoholics Anonymous after his then-wife, Angelina Jolie, filed for divorce in 2016.

The Oscar-winning actor has previously spoken openly about his sobriety and his experience with AA. During a June 2025 appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast, Pitt described the meetings as an important part of his recovery.

“It was just incredible,” Pitt said at the time, recalling meetings where men shared their experiences, mistakes, struggles and humor.

Pitt said he initially struggled to open up during the meetings but eventually became willing to be completely honest about what he was experiencing.

“I was pretty much on my knees and I was really open,” he recalled. “I was trying anything, anything anyone threw at me.”

Pitt has credited fellow actor Bradley Cooper with helping inspire his sobriety. When Cooper presented Pitt with the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2020, Pitt publicly thanked him for helping him stop drinking.

“I got sober because of this guy,” Pitt said during his acceptance speech. “And every day’s been happier ever since.”

Pitt’s latest comments suggest that his relationship with alcohol has changed since that period, rather than representing a return to the level of drinking he had previously described as problematic.

In his Esquire interview, Pitt said finding a balance was important to him. He acknowledged that he had become overconfident about drinking on a couple of occasions, only to recognize that consuming large quantities was “not good for me.”

The actor also discussed his broader approach to emotions and self-acceptance, saying a conversation with a friend helped him stop viewing his emotional nature as something that needed to be fixed.

“I heard that and I went, ‘I’m going to stop feeling like there’s something wrong with that,'” Pitt said.

Pitt has continued working throughout his sobriety journey and most recently starred in F1, while maintaining a relationship with jewelry designer Ines de Ramon.