Brad Pitt revealed he felt “suicidal” while navigating “family stuff” 10 years after splitting from Angelina Jolie.
“I’ve never been suicidal except for one little period. And in that one little period, I just thought — I just couldn’t — just didn’t see a way out,” the “Fight Club” actor, 62, said in a candid interview with Esquire.
“The pain was so oppressive that — I wasn’t going to act on this, but I could feel — I could feel the cold steel of the bullet in my head, and it felt like relief,” he added.
“And I thought, ‘Oh, okay, now I understand’ — I understand suicide, in the sense that it’s just relief. It’s just looking for relief from the pain. But I also think we have incredible survival instincts. And for me, that immediately kicked in, but it was just …”
After a brief pause, Pitt told the interviewer, “This s–t ain’t easy. And you’re talking to a guy who won the lottery.”
When the reporter asked the “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” star if he was dealing with “kid stuff,” he replied, “Family stuff.”
However, Pitt — who shares six children with Jolie — did not want to delve deeper into the touchy topic.
“Family stuff,” he told the outlet. “We could leave it at that.”
Page Six has reached out to Jolie for comment but did not immediately hear back.
The “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-stars share kids Maddox, 25, Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and 18-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.
Jolie, 51, filed for divorce from Pitt in 2016 and requested full custody of their six children following an alleged abusive incident between the actor and the kids.
The “Eternals” actress’s lawyers claimed Pitt allegedly “choked one of the children and struck another in the face” during a confrontation on a private jet.
The FBI “thoroughly” investigated and chose “not to bring any charges” against the two-time Oscar winner.
The former couple was declared legally single in 2019 and finally settled their divorce in December 2024.
Last year, a source told Us Weekly that the “Fight Club” actor remains estranged from most of his children despite “several efforts to reconnect.”
Several of the children have taken legal or public steps to drop “Pitt” from their last names.
If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
