Brad Pitt Officially Speaks Out For First Time On Angelina Jolie

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have had a rocky past six months, to say the least. The two split and now he has spoken out in an interview with GQ Style.

Pitt gives new details about Angelina Jolie in an emotional interview with GQ Style, in which he shares that he’s currently in therapy, acknowledges his drinking had become an issue and says his family has been “ripped apart.”

Pitt reveals that he’s been staying at his home in Hollywood Hills, California — which he considers being his kids’ “childhood home” — though admits he is lonely, aside from his beloved bulldog, Jacques. The actor says he and Jolie are currently working out a visitation plan for their six children — 15-year-old Maddox, 13-year-old Pax, 12-year-old Zahara, 10-year-old Shiloh and 8-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.

“I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called,” Pitt says, though he was eventually cleared of all child abuse allegations last November. “And you know, after that, we’ve [he and Jolie] 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,” he says. “And fortunately my partner in this agrees. It’s just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart. If anyone can make sense of it, we have to with great care and delicacy, building everything around that. Our focus is that everyone come out stronger and better people — there is no other outcome.”

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The Oscar-winning producer and star says he doesn’t want to “hate” Jolie.

“I see it happen to friends — I see where the one spouse literally can’t tell their own part in it, and it’s still competing with the other in some way and wants to destroy them, and needs vindication by destruction, and just wasting years on that hatred. I don’t want to live that way.”

It is quite clear that a split like this is not easy in any way. Especially when it involves two heavy-hitting stars. 

“The first urge is to cling on,” he admits about his feelings towards his family post-split. “And then you’ve got a cliche: If you love someone, set them free. Now I know what it means, by feeling it. It means to love without ownership. It means expecting nothing in return.”

Pitt also says putting “family first” is what has gotten him through the past six months. He admits he’s previously let work take him away from his children.

“Kids are so delicate,” he explains. “They absorb everything. They need to have their hand held and things explained. They need to be listened to. When I get in that busy work mode, I’m not hearing. I want to be better at that.”

“I come from a place where, you know, it’s strength if we get a bruise or cut or ailment [and] we don’t discuss it,” he shares. “We just deal with it. We just go on. The downside of that is it’s the same with our emotions. 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,” he continues. “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.”

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In January, Pitt and Jolie released a joint statement that said they’ve both signed agreements to keep all of their court documents private. They also stated they were “committed to act as a united front to effectuate recovery and reunification.”

Although we have not seen much of them lately, the two seem willing to work on making their children’s lives better. “We will always be a family. Always,” Jolie said when asked about Pitt during her appearance on Good Morning America in February.

We wish the best for the two and their family.

[H/T Entertainment Tonight, GQ Style]