Brad Pitt’s Drinking Was “Worse Than Anyone Could’ve Imagined” (EXCLUSIVE)

It turns out that Brad Pitt’s troubling history with alcohol is even worse than he ever let on before it played a significant role in ending his marriage to Angelina Jolie.

“Alcohol was not just a huge part of his life, but in recent years, Brad was boozing every night, drinking himself into oblivion,” an insider tells In Touch. “It was out of control — worse than anyone could imagine. Brad would begin drinking around dinner and wouldn’t stop until long after the kids went to bed. He would eventually pass out around 3 a.m. and not wake up until around noon. Often he was massively hungover.”

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Brad is the first to admit that his drinking was problematic. In his first interview after the split — with GQ Style — he confessed, “Truthfully, I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional.”

Eventually, he was inspired to make a change.

“Personally, I can’t remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn’t boozing or had a spliff, or something. Something,” he said. “And you realize that a lot of it is, um — cigarettes, you know, pacifiers. And I’m running from my feelings. I’m really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know — things I wasn’t dealing with. I was boozing too much. It’s just become a problem.”

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And he wasn’t the only one that felt that way — when Angelina first filed for divorce, it was because she felt that his drinking posed an actual threat to their six kids. But so far, he has found joy in not only sobriety, but also talking about his drinking.

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“Being public about his drinking has been helpful and healing in Brad’s journey,” the insider tells In Touch. “It’s been therapeutic. But he has to deal with these feelings and can’t use alcohol or drugs to numb the pain.”

Scroll through the gallery to relive the happier times for Brad and Angelina!