Brad Pitt Is “Back off the Wagon” and “Conscious of His Limits”

Brad Pitt has made the decision to start drinking again after seven years of sobriety. The news dropped after Pitt admitted to ending his sobriety in an interview with Esquire, published Monday. In it, Pitt tells interviewer Ryan D’Agostino that he “was sober for seven years,” but then “got back off the wagon.” He then clarified that he now drinks, “in a more restrained manner,” adding, “I got overconfident a couple of times, went Yep, nope, not good for me. Not in big quantities.” 

In short, if you see him with a glass of wine, don’t say anything. Unfortunately for Brad, people have since proceeded to say things. 

After the interview’s release, Page Six reported that Pitt was spotted drinking at Taylor and Travis’ Madison Square Garden wedding, which may have contributed to his decision to go public about his decision to resume imbibing. A source reportedly told them they were “shocked” to see Pitt drinking at the event, which he attended with girlfriend Ines de Ramon. I guess if you’re going to have a glass of wine somewhere, that would be the place to do it. 

The actor initially stopped drinking back in 2016, following his divorce from Angelina Jolie, with whom he shares six children. That divorce would not be finalized until 2024, and in the ensuing years, allegations about Pitt’s behavior, including physical abuse against Jolie and their children, seriously tarnished Pitt’s public image. In one court filing, Jolie claimed Pitt “poured beer and red wine” on their children. An investigation into Jolie’s allegation that Pitt got physically abusive with her and their then-15-year-old son Maddox resulted in Pitt being cleared of wrongdoing. Since then, Maddox and three of his siblings – Shiloh, Vivienne, and Zahara — have taken steps to legally drop Pitt’s name from theirs. So do with that what you will. 

Pitt has been keeping the press abreast of his sobriety journey from the beginning, marking his first six months living alcohol-free with an interview in GQ. Flash forward to 2019, Pitt told The New York Times that the end of his marriage prompted him to join a 12-step program, and “remove [his] drinking privileges. Pitt continued to publicly identify as sober as recently as June 2025, when he discussed his first AA meeting at length on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast. 

“I was pretty much on my back…on my knees, and I was really open,” He told Shepard. “It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting. I needed to wake the fuck up in some areas. And it just meant a lot to me.”

So what changed? While Pitt and his team haven’t been providing further comment,  an “insider” told Page Six, the decision came after taking “a lot of time to reflect” on his relationship with alcohol, and that his current drinking habits are based on “moderation and being very conscious of his limits.” Here’s hoping that’s the truth—and that the champagne at Taylor and Travis’ wedding was worth it. 

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