Brad Pitt breaks silence on 'family stuff' as he reveals 'suicidal' thoughts

Brad Pitt is opening up about a deeply painful period in his life.

In a new interview with Esquire published Monday, August 10, the Oscar-winning actor revealed he felt “suicidal” when he was navigating some “family stuff.”

“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,” Pitt, 62, said. “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.

The Fight Club star said that his “survival instincts” kicked in and he never went through with it but emphasised that “this sh*t ain’t easy.”

When asked if he was referring to “kid stuff,” Pitt simply replied, “Family stuff.”

“We could leave it at that,” he insisted, refusing to go into specifics.

After a contentious split in 2016 followed by a lengthy legal battle, Pitt finalised his divorce from Angelina Jolie in December 2024. 

Over the course of their relationship, the pair welcomed six children: Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne, and Knox. Four out of the six children, save for Pax and Knox, have recently made strides in legally changing their last names from “Pitt” to “Jolie.”