Brad Pitt Quits Drinking and Calls Himself ‘Retarded’

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie split late last year. Pitt has been pretty mum on everything since then. There have been reports about his drinking issues and possible abuse. There have also been reports about him sleeping with any pretty girl who walks his way.

Finally, Pitt is opening about everything he’s gone through to GQ.

“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.

[…]

And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good.”

So how do you just drop it like that?

Don’t want to live that way anymore.

I wonder if George Clooney has given up drinking as well. Growing up sucks.

“I worry about it more for my kids, being subjected to it, and their friends getting ideas from it. And of course it’s not done with any kind of delicacy or insight—it’s done to sell. And so you know the most sensational sells, and that’s what they’ll be subjected to, and that pains me.

[…]

It was all that for a while. 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. I heard one lawyer say, “No one wins in court—it’s just a matter of who gets hurt worse.” And it seems to be true, you spend a year just focused on building a case to prove your point and why you’re right and why they’re wrong, and it’s just an investment in vitriolic hatred. I just refuse. And fortunately my partner in this agrees. It’s just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart.”

I saw Chris Rock live in February. Rock, who went through a divorce himself, said a lot of the same things as Pitt. Everything you ever thought was a secret, isn’t. And everything you ever thought you did right, you did wrong. Rock mentioned that people take pictures of themselves doing nice things with their kids not because they want to capture the moment but because they’ll need those photos if they are ever in a custody battle. “See, I took him to the park that one time.”

“I’m personally very retarded when it comes to taking inventory of my emotions. I’m much better at covering up. I grew up with a Father-knows-best/war mentality—the father is all-powerful, super strong—instead of really knowing the man and his own self-doubt and struggles. And it’s 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.”

Oh boy, someone is going to get mad at him for using the word “retarded.”

Leave it to a second divorce to humble Brad Pitt.