Brad Pitt reveals his Deepest Regret After Divorce Settlement with Angelina Jolie

4 July 2025

Yui Mok - PA Images/PA Images via Getty. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt on Sept. 2, 2007

Brad Pitt now admits that his greatest regret following the end of his eight-year divorce from Angelina Jolie is the wrecked relationship with their six children. Their separation, described by sources as toxic and divisive, “controlled his life for so many years,” with Pitt acknowledging he “made mistakes” and deeply loved Jolie.

Despite the legal conclusion in December 2024, the emotional toll lingers. Insiders report that incidents such as the 2016 plane altercation and Pitt’s battle with alcoholism contributed to turning the children against him. Sources reveal that his “biggest regret is he can’t repair this,” a sentiment underscored by his admission that there are “no winners” in this painful chapter.

At 61, Pitt attributes much of his personal transformation to sobriety. He credits Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for helping him regain perspective: “Ever since he stopped drinking, everything has changed. I was pretty much on my knees,” he shared, acknowledging a moment of reckoning during the divorce. In the aftermath, he has entered a serious relationship with jewelry designer Ines de Ramon and spoken more openly about his journey toward healing.

Yet heartbreak remains at the center of his recovery. A source close to the family confirmed that Jolie remains unforgiving and is not likely to reconcile, a reality Pitt continues to grapple with. For him, the emotional distance from his children looms larger than any legal victory a filial bond lost amid deeply personal conflict.

Pitt’s candidness reflects a much broader cultural turn toward accountability and transparency. A decade ago, he was cinema royalty, commanding the public eye with award-winning performances and high-profile relationships. Today, he stands before the world in a more vulnerable light, confessing parental failings and longing for reconciliation that may remain out of reach. His story now reads as one of redemption, but also of irrevocable consequences that fame alone cannot erase.

This chapter in Pitt's life is defined not by box office numbers but by family fractures. Maddox, 23; Pax, 21; Zahara, 20; Shiloh, 19; and twins Vivienne and Knox, 16, have each dealt with the divorce differently. Some have chosen to distance themselves entirely. One source notes that Shiloh has legally dropped Pitt’s last name and others are following a similar path.

Pitt’s reliance on AA also indicates the depth of his personal reckoning. What began as a fight to stay sober transformed into a path for introspection. He describes AA not as a bandage but a mirror, a place where he could see the man he had become and choose to rebuild Publicly recognizing this journey on platforms like the Armchair Expert and New Heights podcasts marks a shift. He no longer hides.

This transparency has become his bridge toward healing, however fragile it may be. Yet transparency does not guarantee forgiveness. Jolie holds firm. She has made clear she is still “not in a place where she is going to forgive him or ever will” This immovable stance shapes the backdrop of Pitt’s present a life moving forward but shadowed by past wounds.

As he steps into a new creative chapter with his role in the film F1 and his evolving romantic relationship, the specter of his fractured family exemplifies the cost of personal downfall. For Pitt, his legacy now blends art and regret, Hollywood glamour and emotional debt. The narrative becomes not just about survival, but about what remains when survival exacts a price.

He may not repair what's been broken, but he has claimed ownership of the pieces. He speaks of regret, sobriety, accountability, and resolve with a humility previously unseen in his public persona. Each day, he sustains himself on the belief that rebuilding begins with acknowledging loss even if reconciliation remains out of reach.

At this moment, Pitt represents a man caught between former glory and future possibility. A man whose public victories cannot heal private fractures. And yet, in that very tension, lies his true humanity. He is learning that some battles cannot be won in the courtroom or on screen, but only within the heart a territory where time, honesty, and forgiveness may or may not follow.