Brad Pitt on ‘loss, pain’ & celeb pals there in ‘darkest days’ of his 8-year, £300m divorce fight with Angelina Jolie
BRAD PITT has revealed he was forced to rely on close friends for support during the lowest points of his bitter divorce from Angelina Jolie.
After 12 years together, the actress accused him of physical and verbal abuse while on a private jet with their six children in September 2016.
He denied the allegations and the FBI brought no charges, but a gruelling £300million, eight-year divorce battle followed.
Brad said: “When I think of the darker days, it was certainly my close relationships that I relied heavily on. Friends, dear close friends — a handful — close family, and was very open about my struggle.
“And being able to be that free with people who love you and have your back, and that you love back, is everything. It’s everything.”
Since working on his new movie, survival thriller Heart Of The Beast, Brad has realised just how he got through the losses and pain with the help of some of his A-list pals, including George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon.
In the film Brad plays a retired Special Forces veteran navigating a gruelling 60-mile trek through the Alaskan wilderness with his traumatised combat dog, Odin, after their seaplane crashes.
And it was the survival experts Brad worked with that truly opened his eyes to what he’d been through.
In a new interview from the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain, Brad, 62, said: “The survivalists would tell us it’s all about little wins.
“You’re going to suffer losses, you’re going to suffer pain, but it’s just getting to the next little win.
“I thought that equated to life in that way, in the sense of when we are struggling and going through many challenges, just getting to that next little win, not thinking about the big picture, just that next little win.”
There have been plenty of wins in Brad’s career, including two Academy Awards, but his personal life has been marked by significant challenges.
After falling for Angelina on the set of action comedy Mr & Mrs Smith in 2004, he divorced actress Jennifer Aniston the following year.
The pair became known as “Brangelina” and married in front of their kids — Maddox, now 25, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and 18-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox — in August 2014.
But two years later, following the heated row on a flight from their £45million Chateau Miraval in France to LA, Angelina filed for divorce.
No charges were filed by the FBI and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services closed their investigation with no finding of abuse.
In the aftermath, Brad gave up drinking for seven years, began therapy and attended Alcoholics Anonymous. He also leaned on those aforementioned friends, as well as ex-wife Jennifer.
Despite their split after four-and-a-half years of marriage, the pair were able to rebuild their friendship after Brad’s split from Angelina.
But his drawn-out divorce with the Maleficent actress, which was only settled in December 2024, caused a rift with his children.
Last month, his daughter Zahara followed in the footsteps of her siblings Shiloh and Maddox in legally dropping Pitt from her surname.
Vivienne has also filed to change her name, with the court hearing set for next month.
While Brad has declined to comment on the news, he appears to be in a good place after finding love with Ines de Ramon.
He was first linked to the 33-year-old jewellery exec in late 2022, when they were spotted at a concert.
By February 2024, Ines had moved into Brad’s California mansion and they were “happier than ever”.
And this summer, the couple were spotted attending Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s New York wedding.
Ines also accompanied Brad to the premiere of Heart Of The Beast in Nashville last month.
He says one of the greatest things about his new movie was starring alongside six-year-old German Shepherd, Uber.
Brad and the former search and rescue dog, who plays Odin, were given just three weeks to get to know each other before filming.
The actor would sit in Uber’s large kennel answering emails and making calls so the dog would get used to having him around.
Brad, who owns three dogs (Jacques, Blackout Superstar and a recent unnamed rescue), laughed: “Listen, spending a day with the dog just makes things a little better. It wasn’t without its complications. You know, there were days that amazed us.”
Despite being set in Alaska, the movie was shot on New Zealand’s South Island in 45 days.
For more adventurous scenes involving stunts, Odin was played by one of Uber’s three sons, but Brad primarily filmed with Uber.
He said: “We had a short time to shoot this film. We decided a plan of attack — whatever the dog does, we’re going to follow it. So some days, it was just incredible. I did have a really moving experience with Uber, we bonded quickly. We tried to make every day a play day for him.
“There were times he would do things that were just amazing that were not in the script.
“At the same time, there were days when the bees are buzzing and possums are coming down the hill, and things are just much more interesting in the woods than what’s going on here for my co-star.
“I had to be pretty adept at being actor-dog trainer-actor-dog-trainer in the middle of the scene. Thank God for editing!”
Brad’s secret weapon was boiled chicken, Uber’s favourite treat.
The star, who rescued a stray greyhound-mix while filming Seven Years In Tibet in Argentina in 1996, joked: “I can’t smell boiled chicken to this day. That was his favourite.”
While New Zealand’s glaciers, lakes and mountains provided a stunning backdrop, filming in such a rugged location had its drawbacks.
Brad and the crew had to spend 12-hour days outside in the wet and cold, with no heated trailers to rest in.
The actor would sit on logs between takes alongside Uber, who Brad insists is the real star.
He said: “He was pretty cool. He was first on the call sheet. He was priority number one, but he was pretty cool all the way through.
“Working with a dog was really kind of beautiful, it was kind of wonderful. And surprisingly easier than you would think.”
The presence of dogs on set brought welcome relief to an otherwise emotionally intense shoot.
Brad said: “Every day was fun. We tried to do the same thing. We’d roll up on set at six in the morning, and there is one of our dog whisperers just playing catch with Uber.
“It was just such a beautiful sight in the field.”
The story at the heart of the movie — of a man relying on the bond with his dog to get through his darkest days — left Brad with a broader message.
He said: “Yes, it’s a survival story, but ultimately it’s a love story.
“I think we could spend more time looking at where we are the same — what binds us? What connects us?
“Then I think we could listen better through these divisional lines. But maybe just start taking care of the people around us and making sure they’re OK.
“And if everyone did that, I’d say that’s a good place to start.”