The dark truth about Brad Pitt's drinking...

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📖 SOURCES:
May 2017 - GQ Style: https://www.gq.com/story/brad-pitt-gq-style-cover-story

September 2019 - New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/movies/brad-pitt-ad-astra.html

December 2019 - Interview Magazine with Anthony Hopkins: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/anthony-hopkins-talks-to-brad-pitt-about-movies-mortality-and-mistakes

June 2022 - GQ: https://www.gq.com/story/brad-pitt-august-cover-profile

June 2025 - Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us4ddWJeZIY

August 2026 - Esquire: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a73336135/brad-pitt-interview-2026/

Transcript

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Welcome And What We’ll Unpack

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Stop Drinking Podcast, where we help you make stopping drinking a simple, logical, and easy decision. We help you with tips, tools, and strategies to start living your best life when alcohol free. If you want to learn more about stop drinking coaching, then head over to www.soberclear.com. It's true, Brad Pitt is drinking alcohol again. And not many people know what's fully going on here. So I'm making this video, not as a gossip video, not to update you with the news because everybody knows it. So many people have asked for this video. What I want to do is break this into four sections where we can go through every stage of his journey and then pull out the lessons. Because I don't want you to end up like Brad Pitt. I want you to be a happy, sober person that doesn't slip up, that doesn't fall off the wagon. No disrespect to Brad, like he can do whatever he wants, he's free to do what he wants. But if we can break down what may have gone wrong, then we can pull out lessons from this. So let's put Brad up here. Think he fits nice there. And let's get straight into it. So we're going to be looking first at his sobriety timeline. And the reason why is because we want to see the foundation of Brad's worldview. What's his paradigm? What methodologies did he use to get sober? Why did he end up drinking? Again. Then what we'll do is we'll look at the facts of what happened with his drinking. We're not going to speculate, we're going to just pull out what was said by Brad. Then we're going to pull out the lessons, right? What can we learn from this? I don't want you to make the mistakes that he's made. Hey, maybe to him it wasn't a mistake, but from my experience, it's a massive mistake. But I can only speak on what I've done. And then finally, I'll tell you what I think Brad should do next. Because if you ever find yourself in a position like Brad, you need a game plan. You need a roadmap. You need specific things to do. So this video is going to be pretty in-depth. If we've not met yet, my name is Leon Sylvester. I'm the founder of soberclear.com. I haven't drank for over eight years. I've struggled for almost 10 years. I've tried AA, which is something Brad has done. You know, I've tried willpower more times than I can count. And I've now helped over 500 clients. I've had 3,000 phone calls of people who want help stopping drinking. Generated around 500 million views online teaching people about this stuff. So I don't think you're going to get this anywhere else. So let's jump into Brad's sobriety timeline.

Brad Pitt’s Sobriety Timeline

SPEAKER_00 2:27

I'll get through this quickly, but basically in 2016 he stopped drinking alcohol after getting divorced. In 2017, he said that he was sober for six months in a GQ style interview. What was also interesting at this point is six months sober, he made a comment about how he enjoyed wine. He said he enjoyed it very, very much, but he'd run it to the ground. Which I think is already a problem in the mindset. In 2019, in a New York Times interview, he said he was 18 months without drinking in AA. He described AA here as a safe space with very little judgment. Then in 2019, in another interview, he said that drinking alcohol was a disservice to himself, and that was with Anthony Hopkins. Then in 2020, there's the famous clip of him accepting an award and then saying that Bradley Cooper was the reason that he got sober. I'm sure you may have seen that. And then we've seen the very recent interview in 2025 with Dak Shepherd. He said a lot of positive things about AA, saying that it was a very difficult time of his life, he needed rebooting. But here's what you may have missed. In fact, everybody missed this. I missed it, and I've not heard a single person notice this. In 2026, Brad Pitt said he had been sober for seven years. Brad Pitt stopped drinking in 2016. That means he's been drinking since 2023, maybe 2024. So maybe this has been going on for a few years already. Now we don't know. We don't know exactly what's going on. We'll never know. We won't know what he's thinking, we won't know how much he's drinking, we don't even know if he's drinking. We can only go on what's been said.

What He Said About Drinking Again

SPEAKER_00 3:56

So let's talk about the relapse. Let's look at what he said. We know that he'd been sober for seven years, and in an interview with a squire, apparently he offered wine to the journalist. The interviewer then asked him whether he only kept wine for guests, and then he said, Oh no, I fell off the wagon. He got off the wagon, that's what he said. Now who knows? Was that a chance thing that happened, or is this a PR campaign that's ran by Brad's team to boost him back and make him relevant again? We don't know. But what he has said is that he's drinking in a restrained manner, is that he's been overconfident a few times, which means he must have drank more than he intended to. Uh, he realized that it's no good for me. And then he believes he can have a few and he needs to approach it professionally. I don't know, if you've watched my channel for a while, you might see that as a uh maybe a problem that is brewing. Bad choice of words, but that's what Brad has said. Now, like I said, we don't know what he's truly thinking. We can't see into his mind, but there are some serious, serious lessons

The Belief That Drives Relapse

SPEAKER_00 5:08

here. So, where did it all go wrong? Well, firstly, we don't know it's all gone wrong. He might be totally fine having a few drinks. There are people out there that do this. Does it mean that I want to be one of them? Hell no. Would I swap places with him if his drinking is under control? Hell no. The same way I wouldn't trade places with a crack addict or a heroin addict. Even if they're only smoking one pipe at the weekend, one injection per fortnight. Would I want to trade places with them? Hell no. So why would I want to trade places with him? But however you want to look at it, he's been sober for a long time, seven years. There's no doubt that his life would have got better as a result of not drinking. But something brought him back to the drink. And it can only be one thing. There was a belief. Brad had a belief. And I know this for sure because it's why everybody relapses. Not just Brad, everybody. It's why I've relapsed in the past. It's why clients have relapsed in the past. I've seen it time and time again, because it's the only thing and the only reason why people relapse. He believed that alcohol added something. We don't know what. Maybe he thought in his head that it would help him release some stress. Maybe he thought that it's going to add some sophistication with some expensive wines. Maybe he thought that on a date he could use it and who knows what. I don't know if Brad Pitt needs wine on dates, right? But you get the point. He thought that alcohol added something to his life. Fun, glamour, stress relief, relaxation, who knows? And this is why some people can stop drinking for a very long period of time and they can just use willpower. They can just fight the urge, you know, every time they want it, they resist it, they resist it, they resist it. But they never actually change their beliefs. Right? Life goes better, they're healthier, they're fitter, they're more sociable, they're looking better. All these good things are happening, but in the back of their mind, they know that they're resisting alcohol. They know that there's something that they want to gain from alcohol, but they resist, they resist, they resist. And if you ask me, it's kind of what he's been doing. I don't resist alcohol and I'll never go back to drinking ever. And I'm so sure of that. There was a time in my life where I'd stopped drinking alcohol and I would never vocalize that because I didn't believe it. I knew that one day there was a little part of me that wanted to drink. That is totally eradicated. So I have no fear of the social consequence of going back on my word here. But clearly, he didn't feel that way because something brought him back. You could not pay me one million dollars to drink a bottle of vodka or a bottle of wine. You couldn't pay me a million dollars because I know over the long run that the danger of that and the potential risk will eclipse a million dollars. But radical alcohol added something. That's why people drink. But let's just quickly break this down a bit further. What does alcohol add to anybody's life? What does putting a poison into your body that causes cancer, that reduces years of your life expectancy, sometimes decades, that kills 95,000 Americans each year, probably millions globally, ruins your sleep, makes you bloated, makes your face red, ruins your energy, ruins your mood. How does that add anything? It adds nothing. And until Brad is clear on this, he might never go back to being sober. He might not want to either. So I can't sit here and say, you know, he should do this. He shouldn't. He can do what he wants. But I'm pulling out the lessons for you because I think you're different. I think you want a life of sobriety where you're happy, you're healthy, you're fit. So he can do what he wants. But that is the first lesson that we

Freedom Versus White Knuckle Willpower

SPEAKER_00 9:06

can take out here. Now, the second lesson is that stopping drinking alcohol isn't some goal, right? Like to quit alcohol and to be, you know, a year sober, I'm two years sober, I'm seven years sober, that's no achievement. Now that sounds harsh again, and you can celebrate it, right? I I tell you I've been eight years sober. I don't look, I don't know how long I've been sober. I never think about it. I'm not celebrating the fact that I'm not drinking alcohol. And if you do that, it's not the end of the world. But the goal isn't to quit drinking. If his goal was to quit drinking, he achieved it. But the ultimate goal is that you want to stop drinking and experience true freedom. True freedom. And freedom is actually being able to take or leave alcohol whenever you want. I can drink if I want to. I'm in total control of how much I drink. I always control a zero amount of alcohol to go into my lips. And I've controlled that amount for eight years. There's been no fight, there's been no struggle, there's been no effort. Pure freedom. But what we've seen with Brad is that he's not so interested in that. Like he said, he wants to approach it like a professional. He wants to do it in a restrained manner, and he can do what he wants. But even saying that you need to stay restrained to me is a problem. That's not freedom. I don't need to restrain myself from exercise. I don't need to control the amount of exercise I do. I want to do the maximum. I don't need to restrain myself. I don't need to restrain myself from the amount of vegetables I eat or the amount of water that I drink. Restraining ourselves from poisoning ourselves with an addictive drug. Doesn't make any sense. Right? You're literally telling yourself that I need to force myself to not drink more. I've got to restrain myself. I don't want to drink too much, I don't want to drink too little, I've got to get the right amount. What are we doing? Just rolling the dice, hoping that we don't get addicted to it again. Anyway, the third point is that, you know, this man, handsome, successful, powerful, rich, world famous, this is a guy that has focused on the future, right? This is not a guy that's just sat there thinking, what shall I do, what shall I not? This is an action taker. And I always talk about this. If you want to live a great life without alcohol, you've got to be taking action. You've got to be moving forward. You've got to have goals, you've got to have an vision, ambition. You've got to want more for your life, but it's not the only thing. Right? He's clearly done this, you know, the these years that he's been sober, you know, he's still at the top of his game. So he was clearly doing that, but he's still drinking. Because it's not the only thing that matters. So there's two key things

Language That Normalises Drinking

SPEAKER_00 11:56

to stopping drinking. There's reframing how you view alcohol, is getting to that place where you know it adds nothing. That is the first part, and then you focus on the future. But it's clear to me that I mean, like I said, I don't know exactly what he's thinking, but if you ask me, he's not done this. He still thinks alcohol adds something. So just focusing on the future is not enough. You've got to break it down, right? What I teach people to do is break down the problem into its first principles. Look at alcohol, look at addiction, look at society, look at the way it's been conditioned into our lives, look at AA, look at all of this stuff, and then study it. Study every individual component part until you realize that alcohol adds nothing. So that's the next lesson. The fourth lesson is the language that he uses in his in his uh in the interview. Like I've already said, restrained manner. He also said that he got off the wagon. Now, this is a almost a socially acceptable way to tell people I am consuming a fricking drug again. Do people, you know, if this guy had a painkiller addiction, firstly, I don't think he'd be vocal about it, so respect to him. But would he be saying that, yeah, man, I got off, you know, I'm back on the painkillers. Got off the wagon. No. He wouldn't. And this is like this socially acceptable thing of, I'm consuming a drug again. But it's gonna be okay. You know, he said that he realized it's no good for him when he gets overconfident. Overconfident. I've never heard of I've never heard it put that way. Overconfident. I would call it more, you know, I did I I I you know, alcohol is designed this way. You drink it, you want to drink more, it lowers your inhibitions, it dehydrates you, and that's not getting overconfident, that's really just doing what alcohol makes you do. You know? So the drug doesn't change. Got overconfident a few times, but the drug's exactly the same. It's got the same addictive properties, you've never changed how you really view alcohol, so you've still got the same beliefs, and then he says that he still believes he can have a few. Maybe he can. I know that when I've said these things in the past, I may have lasted a few months, living my life this way. He's lasted a few years, maybe he lasts forever. I know what happened to me. These are the exact things I would say. Approach it like a professional. I'm I'm not a I'm not a wine drinker, I'm more of a wine connoisseur. You know, I'm a professional. I just have a little bit well. Yeah, and then what? Before you know it, in my experience, I'm drinking two bottles of wine. Not a glass anymore, two bottles of wine. I'm smashed. I'm ordering drugs, but I'm doing the stupidest stuff because I'm drinking again. So, you know, language. Language is so important. And then and

The “Alcoholic” Label And Mental Games

SPEAKER_00 14:54

then the final thing is that the idea of the alcoholic. So we don't know that we we know that Brad went to AA for 18 months. We don't know if he still believes he's an alcoholic. One thing that can happen, this is what happened to me. I believed I was an addict and an alcoholic, so then when I've drank at times, that story was in my head. So I am went overboard. So that's one way that this label can damage somebody. Now, the other thing that can happen, and this is where it gets really dark you might go to AA for three years. I'm an alcoholic, I'm an alcoholic, I'm an alcoholic, I don't even like saying it, but you keep saying it, you drill it again and again and again. Then you drink again. You've not you've not drank for three years, you drink. Oh nothing bad happened. This is what happened to me. You know, I I built my life without drinking alcohol for six, seven, eight months. Personal training business, making almost $100,000 a year. Whilst I was a student, full-time student, I was kicking butt because I wasn't drinking. So I'm kicking butt. And then I go to this New Year's Eve party, and then there's the champagne, you know. I mean in private members' club, somebody gives me, I'm like, no, no, no, don't drink it, I don't drink. Later on in the night, I ended up drinking again. Guess what? I went back home, my life's still there. My car's there, my Mercedes. I still live in a good area. It's sweet. And then what? Well this weekend I can go and have a few more. And I'm smiling because it's the ridiculousness of addiction, it's how it grabs you. You know, I'm smiling. I I do this a lot. I I say a thing, I smile, and I feel bad about smiling because it wasn't funny at the time. You know, I would have given anything to just stop drinking. So, yeah, and then, you know, like let's say you've been to AA multiple years, you start drinking again, nothing bad happens, and then you keep saying, Well, you know, maybe it's all right this time. Maybe this time I can get drunk. Oh, get drunk this weekend, and I'll take two weeks off. If I can drink, get drunk this weekend and take two weeks off, then I'm definitely not an alcoholic, wherever it is. Definitely not an alcoholic. This is the games in our mind of addiction. These are the games that the addictive mind plays. You see? So we don't know. Maybe maybe he was like, Alright, I've been told I'm an alcoholic, I've stopped drinking for ages on my own, I'm gonna try it again. Gotta be careful. So, what should Brad do next?

What To Do Next If You Slip

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Well, firstly, I'd ask him, Do you even want to change? And if he says no, then that's the end of the conversation, right? We can't change people that don't want to change. He has to want to change. So that would be the first thing. And if you ever get to this place and you're a few months with drinking and nothing bad's happening, and you know, you'd rather just sit it out and see what happens, then no one's here to stop you. Right? I I can't create consequences in your life, your decisions. No one can. So that's the first thing. Do you want to change? When I stopped drinking alcohol, I wanted it pretty bad. I really did. You know, I knew that alcohol was the one thing in my life that was holding me back. I knew that if I kept drinking, I'd be in an early grave. There was no question about it. I don't even know if I'd have made it to 14. So I knew I wanted to change. I had a burning desire. That's why I struggled for 10 years, because I had that burning desire. It just took me a long time to figure it out long term. Now, if he wanted to change, let's say he says, Leon, I need to get back up on the wagon, as he puts it. Well, the first thing you've got to do is because of the reason why he relapsed is because he believes Alco added something, which is why everybody relapses, we've got to know exactly what he thinks it adds. We've got to break it down into its first principles. Now, in my program, we do this for you. We we've already got all of the reasons why we break them down, individual component parts. But if it was with him directly, one-on-one, and ask him, where do you think alcohol adds value in your life? And he's like, maybe it's like Leon, you know, I get home and I crack open a beer and I just like this calm feeling of relaxation. Okay, great. We've got something there. We've got a belief. We've got a ritual, we've got a belief. What else? You know, maybe it's when uh I worked with one client before, you know, running a $500 million company, and then he'd he'd like raise $20 million investment, right? This guy was awesome. Kick him butt. He said his belief was champagne. He associated champagne with the feeling of success and winning. And then when his team would get together or there'd be an event, somebody would hand him champagne, and this was like his token of success. Perfect. Another belief. You know, in my life, a big thing for me was socializing. I wanted to kind of get out of my head and let myself go, and that was a big one for me. So I'd pull these out of it one by one. And this is something that you can do as well. Pull out the beliefs that you've got, find out what it is, and then you've got to challenge these beliefs. So, how can you challenge the beliefs? Well, there are many

Challenging Beliefs And Pain Pleasure Lists

SPEAKER_00 20:04

ways. You can read books. I mean, you could get a copy of my book, The 48-hour alcohol reset. You can work with coaches, you can study YouTube videos like this one, like the hundreds of videos I've got. You can look on the internet and read other people's experience. And you can sit there and do a hell of a lot of introspection, which is what I essentially did. I read a lot, I thought a lot, I sat there a lot, until there was this moment where I just saw no benefit to drinking anymore. All the beliefs that I had around alcohol had changed. It was the best feeling ever. So that would be the next step. The next step is writing a pain and pleasure list. And it's pretty basic, but you really want to write down 10 ways that alcohol causes pain in your life. You know, you could be writing about the lack of energy, you could be talking about gaining weight, upsetting your daughter, upsetting your son, upsetting your wife. You want to write down all the ways that alcohol causes pain. And if you're struggling for things here, you could also write about how it will continue to cause pain. So, for example, you could be writing about getting a phone call from your doctor saying you've got cancer. Make it painful, make it hurt. And then you want to write down about all the great things that will happen if you don't drink. You know, in my life, at the time that I was doing this, I could have traveled the world, right? I could have felt like I'm going towards my potential. I could have got married, I could have had children, I could have built my own online business. And it's all happened. You know, we just had a daughter uh seven weeks ago. So that's the next

Final Reminder Alcohol Is A Drug

SPEAKER_00 21:37

thing. I would have, you know, in his position and in anybody's position, I'd have extreme caution with labels. I would not be labeling myself an alcoholic because, again, that's just a belief. There's no such thing unless we're talking about the medical diagnosis here. But this 12-step idea of an alcoholic, it's a made-up self-help term. I would be so careful about this. Uh, the fifth thing is just to remind him, and I want to remind you as well, you've got nothing wrong with you. Like we were just discussing here, where he was talking about the restrained manner. Alcohol is a drug, right? If you drink one drink of a drug, it is designed to make you want to drink more. Again, again, again.soberclear.com.