In the years since Brangelina reverted back to being just Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie following their messier-than-most split, both stars are now seemingly back on track.
For Brad, who faced allegations of physical abuse and excessive drinking during the prolonged custody battle over the couple’s six children, getting sober was a major turning point.
Speaking with The New York Times in a revealing profile published on Wednesday, the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actor revealed he has stopped drinking altogether, and sought the support of Alcoholics Anonymous group meetings to process the fallout from his highly-publicised divorce.
“I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privileges,” he told the outlet, adding that he attended AA meetings for a year and a half.
“You had all these men sitting around being open and honest in a way I have never heard,” Brad continued. “It was this safe space where there was little judgment, and therefore little judgment of yourself.”
Brad shared few specifics of his split with his ex-wife, revealing only that he had “family stuff going on”. But he did remark on the power of being emotionally vulnerable, noting it’s “really freeing just to expose the ugly sides of yourself”.
“The fact is, we all carry pain, grief and loss,” he said. “We spend most of our time hiding it, but it’s there, it’s in you. So you open up those boxes.”
Brad previously described his 2016 split from Jolie as a “huge generator for change” in his own life that allowed him to take a hard look at his bad habits.
“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 realise that a lot of it is, um — cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And I’m running from feelings,” he told GQ in May 2017. “I’m really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean, I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family.
“But even this last year, you know — things I wasn’t dealing with. 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.”
In the NYT profile, Brad described how the attention he received as his career was taking off in the 1990s “really threw” him and made him even more dependent on drugs and alcohol.
“It was really uncomfortable for me, the cacophony of expectations and judgments,” he said. “I really became a bit of a hermit and just bonged myself into oblivion.”
Life certainly seems a bit smoother for Brad these days.
He reached a custody agreement with Angelina in late 2018 that awarded joint custody of the children, and he’s gaining Oscar buzz for his performance in two of 2019′s biggest movies, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and the upcoming Ad Astra.
- If you need help with a drinking problem, call the Alcoholics Anonymous national helpline for free on 0800 9177 650 or email help@aamail.org.
- For advice on how to reduce drinking, visit Drinkaware’s website or Alcohol Change UK.
- Find alcohol addiction services near you using this NHS tool.
He later insisted he had a 'damn good reason' for putting the brakes on her scheduled performance.
Although they tried to make a go of it in the outside world, it wasn't long before infidelity accusations were thrown from both sides, with Stephanie eventually announcing she was pregnant with Jeremy's child.
He later addressed the break-up in his track 'Cry Me A River', and has repeatedly made digs at her over the past decade.
Amber then caused ripples on social media with #FingersInTheBooty-gate, with Kanye later using Amber as one of 12 celebs in his shocking 'Famous' music video.
While he initially owned up to one indiscretion, it later transpired that an entire orgy had taken place without his girlfriend's knowledge, and their relationship swiftly ended.
Shortly after their break-up, they were both victims of a mass celebrity nude photo hacking, with Kelly publicly tweeting David to tell him: 'Your nob's online. Email me.'
Most recently, Selena tweeted Justin to tell him he was being unfair to his Beliebers by blaming them for laying into his new girlfriend, something she knows a whole lot about.
He later issued a public statement in a video, urging Chantelle to allow him to see their baby daughter, Dolly.
After discovering he'd slept with a model behind her back, Kelly blasted her then-fiancé on social media, calling him the 'biggest piece of shit ever' also accusing him of sleeping with 'hundreds of girls as well as men behind her back'.
Since marrying Michelle Keegan, Mark has repeatedly blasted his ex, urging her to stop mentioning him in interviews and to 'have some self-respect'.
The two attempted to get their relationship back on track, but allegedly split when he learned she was still in contact with Rupert.