Seven months after filing for divorce from ex-wife Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt recently opened up about his alcohol addiction in an interview with GQ Style.
“I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground. I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully, I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good,” he said, adding that now, he enjoys cranberry juice and fizzy water.
The actor’s elaborate interview with the magazine has him talking about his life post separation and how he has been crashing at different people’s places and “making stuff” to keep himself occupied.
Pitt revealed that he quit drinking six months ago, and that his excessive drinking played a role in his divorce from actress Angelina Jolie. “It hit me smack in the face with our divorce: I gotta be more. I gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven’t been great at it,” he told GQ.
Pitt even addressed some of the rumors about what led to their split, and said it was about “owning his side of street” in terms of putting his drunken abuse behind him and being a better father to his six children: 15-year-old Maddox, 13-year-old Pax, 12-year-old Zahara, 10-year-old Shiloh, and 8-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.
“I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called. And you know, after that, we’ve been able to work together to sort this out. We’re both doing our best,” he added.
As per a few reports, the former couple had an argument mid-air while traveling from Nice, France to Minnesota, USA. Despite being asked to sober up, the actor had a few too many drinks and had allegedly hit his 15-year-old son Maddox. Following this, an argument ensued, with Angelina and the kids leaving separately upon touchdown.
The GQ Style interview has generated a lot of criticism, some siding with the actor and the others calling it a method of “fixing” his image.
“So how does one of Hollywood’s biggest stars begin to fix his image and move on? The answer seems to be – by doing an eight-day photoshoot mucking about in America’s national parks and a long, confessional and philosophical interview with GQ Style,” wrote BBC.
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In Vanity Fair, the author wrote: “Pitt clearly studied the lay-it-all-bare, heart-on-my-sleeve, owning-my-flaws interview section of the post-celebrity-divorce playbook. Learning from his tumultuous year is a theme of the talk, especially regarding the divorce, which is still under way.”
At the same time, a Huffington Post article praises Pitt for being open about his difficulties. “Brad, I lift a cranberry-and-Perrier to you. People like you do so much to give a face to the addiction crisis that claims so many lives. Thank you for your honesty, your courage, and your willingness to open up about your recovery,” it read.
Pic: GQ Style