{"id":6875,"date":"2026-08-15T17:08:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T17:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6875"},"modified":"2026-08-15T17:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T17:08:21","slug":"speculation-grows-over-brad-pitt-wanting-people-to-know-hes-drinking-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6875","title":{"rendered":"Speculation grows over Brad Pitt wanting people to know he’s drinking again"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brad Pitt made lots of headlines this week by letting it slip in an interview that he\u2019s drinking again after being sober for more than seven years.<\/p>\n

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The 62-year-old movie star got recovery experts debating his claims in Esquire magazine that he\u2019s learned to moderate his once-out-of-control alcohol consumption after he praised abstinence-based 12-step meetings as recently as last year. Meanwhile, his ex-wife Angelina Jolie joined the conversation by reportedly saying she never believed he \u201cfundamentally changed\u201d after his drinking allegedly contributed to their acrimonious 2016 split and his estrangement from their six children.<\/p>\n

But amid all the social media uproar, veteran entertainment and gossip writers wonder if something else is going on with Pitt\u2019s revelation \u2014 beyond that he needs to promote his two upcoming movies, \u201cHeart of the Beast\u201d and \u201cThe Adventures of Cliff Booth.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019re asking: Why is this coming now and why does Pitt feel it\u2019s something people need to know about him?<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething\u2019s going on with Brad,\u201d celebrity publicist-turned gossip writer Rob Shuter said while appearing on journalist Maureen Callahan\u2019s The Nerve YouTube show Wednesday. \u201cHe\u2019s on the cover of Esquire magazine where he talks about drinking again. It\u2019s a very revealing interview. It\u2019s an interview that Brad would not have given 10 years ago. I think we\u2019re going to find a lot more information about Brad and and I\u2019m for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shuter also said: \u201cI think Brad is getting sick of the B.S.\u201d Shuter was referring to the onslaught of headlines over the past several months about four of Pitt\u2019s six children, ages 18 to 24, officially cutting ties with him by dropping his last name from their own.<\/p>\n

Callahan agreed that Pitt may no longer care about appearing as though he\u2019s trying to make up to his children, if they\u2019ve been public about wanting nothing more to do with him.<\/p>\n

But she also speculated that something darker could be going on, and wondered if news will break that presents Pitt in a negative light. \u201cI\u2019m wondering if he is trying to get ahead of something,\u201d she said. \u201cWhy admit that you\u2019re drinking again?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Shuter agreed that the timing is \u201cnot a coincidence. If we\u2019d caught Brad having a drink at the Four Seasons Hotel, then that is breaking news.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shuter also pointed out that Pitt was clearly not coerced into talking about his drinking by a pushy magazine writer. As the Esquire interview was presented, Pitt appeared to maneuver the writer, Ryan D\u2019Agostino, into asking about his drinking. This move seemed calculated and was probably worked out by Pitt and his P.R. team, Shuter said.<\/p>\n

Pitt invited D\u2019Agostino into his Los Angeles home, with its expansive views, prepared a charcuterie platter and offered him some wine.<\/p>\n

With that, D\u2019Agostino asked if the wine is something he just had available for guests. Pitt said no, explaining how he\u2019s \u201coff the wagon\u201d but no longer drinks in \u201cbig quantities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI got overconfident a couple times, went, Yep, nope, not good for me,\u201d Pitt said. He also said he can have a glass of wine. \u201cYeah. Well . . . I can have a few,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I can\u2019t have a lot. I have to be professional about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Callahan noted Pitt\u2019s use of the word \u201cprofessional\u201d in regards to his drinking. Pitt previously used that word in 2017, when he first opened up about his problems with alcohol in an interview with GQ. He mentioned the fact that he and Jolie bought the Chateau Miraval winery together in the South of France earlier in their relationship, which means he enjoys wine \u201cvery, very much.\u201d He continued:\u00a0 \u201cBut I just ran it to the ground. \u2026 And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

This interview came after Jolie made the shocking move in September 2016 to file for divorce, ending one of Hollywood\u2019s most storied romantic partnerships. She subsequently accused Pitt in court documents of drinking too much on a private plane ride back from Europe, during which he allegedly abused her and their six children, emotionally and physically.<\/p>\n

As Pitt was campaigning to win a best supporting actor Oscar for \u201cOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood,\u201d he opened up some more about changing his ways. He told the New York Times in 2019 that he had joined a 12-step community and, at a 2020 awards gala, thanked his friend Bradley Cooper in 2020 for helping him get sober.<\/p>\n

As recently as last year, the \u201cF1\u201d star talked to actor and podcaster Dax Shepard about the benefits of attending an Alcoholic Anonymous men\u2019s group, saying, \u201cI just thought it was just incredible. Men sharing their experiences, their foibles, their missteps, their wants, their aches, and a lot of humor with it. I thought it was a really special experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

But those 12-step meeting may be in the past. Meanwhile, Shuter also brought up another bit of interesting timing around Pitt\u2019s buzzy Esquire interview. This week, the Daily Mail also reported that he continues to be on good terms with Jennifer Aniston, whom he infamously divorced in 2005 so that he could pursue his romance with Jolie.<\/p>\n

Following the divorce, Pitt \u201chumiliated\u201d Aniston by appearing to flaunt his relationship with Jolie and the way he was building a family with her, Callahan said. The Nerve host accused people on his team of spreading stories about Aniston that made it sound like he had no choice but to divorce her because she couldn\u2019t or wouldn\u2019t give him children \u2014 while he went on to have three biological children with Jolie and to adopt three others with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so misogynistic,\u201d Callahan said. Pitt\u2019s apparent lack of awareness and empathy regarding such stories prompted Aniston to famously say in a 2005 Vanity Fair interview: \u201cThere\u2019s a sensitivity chip that\u2019s missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t know what happened,\u201d Aniston continued in the interview. \u201cI feel as if I\u2019m trying to scrounge around and pick up the pieces in the midst of this media circus.\u201d<\/p>\n

But according to Shuter and Callahan, Pitt\u2019s team now wants it to be known that he\u2019s back on good terms with his first ex-wife, possibly because the former \u201cFriends\u201d star is so \u201cwell-loved in Hollywood.\u201d He may need her approval to maintain the good will of the public as he promotes his upcoming work, the journalists said.<\/p>\n

According to the Daily Mail, \u201cinsiders\u201d insisted that Pitt has \u201cno hidden agenda\u201d with Aniston. He also doesn\u2019t expect to be \u201crekindling their romance.\u201d More than anything, he values their friendship and \u201cgetting back together with her and talking again was one of the best decisions that he has ever made,\u201d the Daily Mail said.<\/p>\n

Read more Rafael Devers can\u2019t wait for Fenway return with SF Giants: \u2018I love the fans\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Something’s going on with Brad,’ one Hollywood expert says about the timing of Pitt’s revelation, while another wonders if ‘he is trying to get ahead of something.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\nSpeculation grows over Brad Pitt wanting people to know he’s drinking again - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6875\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Speculation grows over Brad Pitt wanting people to know he’s drinking again - 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