Brad Pitt Talks Angelina Jolie Divorce, Custody Battle And Former Drinking Problems For First Time

He has kept a largely low -profile existence since his estranged wife Angelina Jolie filed for divorce in September. Now, after months of shocking allegations as the battle turned nasty, Brad Pitt has finally opened up about the situation in a new interview.

The world was stunned last year when Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt after 12 years together, two of which where they were married, and six children. The news became even more shocking as allegations that Pitt was abusive towards the kids surfaced (those allegations were later thrown out after investigations by the FBI and Department of Child and Family Services found nothing to suggest they were true). Even as those allegations were thrown out, the custody battle between Pitt and Jolie seemed to become increasingly more ugly, until January of this year, when the two announced they would work together with a private judge to settle the divorce and custody arrangement.

Despite being a high-profile A-list couple, both Jolie and Pitt have been quiet about the divorce, not really discussing it at all or doing too many interviews. However, Pitt has finally opened up about things in a new interview with GQ Style. In the interview, Pitt admitted that he and Jolie are still working out the logistics of their custody battle, but despite things initially not going well for him because of the abuse allegations, he’s more positive that it will be sorted out in a way that both he and Jolie will agree to and that will be benficial for their children—Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox and Vivienne.

“Yeah, we’re working on that now,” he said when asked about the allegations and the battle. “It was all that for a while. I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called. And you know, after that, we’ve been able to work together to sort this out. We’re both doing our best...It’s just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart.”

Read: Angelina Jolie Breaks Her Silence Over Divorce From Brad Pitt

Pitt didn’t dwell too heavily on the divorce itself, and didn’t try to malign Jolie's character either, choosing to remain positive throughout. He also revealed that while he used to previously enjoy drinking and smoking pot however, he has since given all of those activities up and is living his life cleaner than ever before.

“...I can’t remember a day since I got out of college when I wasn’t boozing or had a spliff, or something. And you realize that a lot of it is, um—cigarettes, you know, pacifiers,” he said. “And I’m running from 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 just become a problem. And I’m really happy it’s been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but I’ve got my feeling in my fingertips again. I think that’s part of the human challenge: You either deny them all of your life or you answer them and evolve.”

When asked how he was able to drop it (Pitt also labeled himself a professional drinker in the interview), he simply said he didn’t want to live his life “that way” anymore.

Though this was Pitt’s first interview since Jolie’s divorce filing, and first time opening up about the divorce, it isn’t the first time he has been in public. He made the rounds doing press for his film “Allied” in November, just two months after the divorce filing. In January, shortly before Jolie agreed to his request to continue their divorce proceedings with a private judge, he made a brief appearance at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles to introduce the film “Moonlight.” That appearance on the stage was met with a standing ovation from the crowd.

Jolie opened up about the divorce for herself back in March, focusing on her future without Pitt, revealing that she would like to focus on her international work, something she hopes their children also want to get involved with as they grow older.

“I imagine I will spend my days traveling from country to country to visit our children, who I expect will live around the world,” she said. “I think some will be interested in the international work I do, and I would love to partner with them as I continue. I imagine I will be less involved in film and be focused more on family and foreign affairs.”