Brad Pitt Got Sober After His Split From Angelina Jolie (& He Credits A Fellow A-Lister For Supporting Him)

The entertainment world was rocked when news broke in 2016 that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had split after two years of marriage and six children together, per ET. Their divorce and subsequent custody battle were bitter, with accusations of abusive, drunken behavior and unfit parenting flying thick and fast. It was very public, very painful, and excruciatingly embarrassing. However, one good thing came out of the nightmare: Brad got sober after his split from Angelina — with some help from his friends.

Initially, details of what led to Angelina filing for divorce were hazy. However, the BBC reported that things became clearer after a bombshell report surfaced that Brad was being investigated for alleged child abuse by the Department of Child and Family Services. It was purported that Maddox Jolie-Pitt had been harmed when he stopped a fight between his parents during a plane ride home from France. No charges were brought against Brad, and he was cleared of wrongdoing. Still, the reports kept coming. Jolie claimed that a drunken Pitt doused his family in alcohol and verbally abused them.

Pitt was left reeling. "It's hit me smack in the face with our divorce: I gotta be more," he told GQ. "I gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven't been great at it." Reports soon surfaced that Pitt was in Alcoholics Anonymous and, sure enough, Brad Pitt got sober after his split from Angelina Jolie (& he credits a fellow A-lister for supporting him).

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

That fateful flight from France to Hollywood was a wake-up call to Brad Pitt. He eliminated all the emotional crutches he'd previously relied on to bury his emotions. And he leaned on his fellow A-list pal Bradley Cooper for help.

Cooper and Pitt's friendship spans way back. They've been spotted together several times, including chilling in London in 2015 when Pitt watched his buddy perform in "The Elephant Man," per Just Jared. Cooper told the "Smartless" podcast that he'd leaned on Will Arnett for support when he got sober. So, it was a no-brainer to pay it forward and help Pitt in his time of need. Still, when you're one of the most famous men in the world, it's hard to get around the Anonymous part of AA. However, Pitt finally found a group free from prying eyes and tabloid sources. "I had a really cool men's group here that was really private and selective, so it was safe," Pitt told GQ. "Because I'd seen things of other people who had been recorded while they were spilling their guts, and that's just atrocious to me."

Pitt thanked his "Hangover" buddy for being there in his time of need during his National Board of Review acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" in 2020. "I got sober because of this guy, and every day has been happier ever since," Pitt said to Cooper. "I love you, and I thank you."

Brad Pitt finally got sober, but it was too late to save his marriage to Angelina Jolie. The couple was both left feeling torn apart by the breakup. Jolie admitted to Madame Figaro that the divorce made her feel "a deep and genuine sadness" and that she "got a little lost" after she split from Pitt. "It was a complicated moment, where I no longer recognized myself, where I had become... how to say... smaller, insignificant, even if that was not necessarily visible."

"I separated for the wellbeing of my family. It was the right decision. I continue to focus on their healing. Some have taken advantage of my silence, and the children see lies about themselves in the media," Jolie later told Vogue India. "But I remind them that they know their own truth and their own minds."

Meanwhile, Pitt continues to take every day at a time and get back in touch with his emotions. "I can't remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn't boozing or had a spliff or something. Something. And you realize that a lot of it is, um—cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And I'm running from feelings. I'm really, really happy to be done with all of that," he told GQ in another interview. "I was boozing too much. It's just become a problem. And I'm really happy it's been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I've got my feelings in my fingertips again."