Oscar-winning actor Brad Pitt has resumed drinking alcohol after seven years of sobriety, telling Esquire he approaches it now with discipline and moderation, a choice an insider says reflects years of private reflection.
Pitt, 62, disclosed the shift during a wide-ranging interview at his $12 million Los Angeles home, where he offered the interviewer a glass of wine, a small gesture that signaled a significant change. Asked about his sobriety, the actor was direct.
"No, I got, I was sober for seven years. And then I got back off the wagon," Pitt told Esquire in the interview published Monday. He added that he had tested his limits more than once along the way: "I got overconfident a couple times, went, 'Yep, nope, not good for me.'"
Pitt said he now drinks in a "more restrained manner," noting he "can have a few" but "can't have a lot." He does not drink "in big quantities," he said, and framed the discipline in professional terms: "I have to be professional about it."
A source close to the situation told Page Six that Pitt's return to alcohol was neither reckless nor sudden. The insider described it as a considered decision that followed years of self-examination.
"This is a very personal decision that's unique to Brad and his own circumstances. Over time, his life changed and he reached a point where he felt comfortable making a different choice."
The source added that Pitt "knows what those limits are and understands that drinking in moderation requires a level of discipline and self-awareness." The insider emphasized that resuming drinking "doesn't take away from the years he spent sober or what he learned during that time."
A rep for Pitt did not respond to Page Six's requests for comment.
Pitt stopped drinking after he and Angelina Jolie, now 51, separated in 2016. The couple shares six children, Maddox, 25; Pax, 22; Zahara, 21; Shiloh, 20; and 18-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. Their divorce dragged through more than eight years of legal proceedings before it was finalized in December 2024.
In a June 2025 appearance on Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, Pitt described the period that drove him to seek help. He recalled attending his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting during what he called a "particularly difficult period" in his life.
"I was pretty much on my knees, and I was really open."
That candor on Shepard's podcast offered a rare window into how Pitt processed the collapse of his marriage and the public scrutiny that followed. Seven years of sobriety came out of that low point.
Now, with the divorce behind him and the legal battles settled, the insider told Page Six that Pitt views his current approach as the right fit for this chapter. "This is simply the decision he feels is right for him at this point in his life, and he's committed to being responsible about it," the source said.
Whether moderation holds where sobriety once stood is a question only time will answer, but it is Pitt's question to answer, not Hollywood's.
