Brad Pitt has spoken out for the first time about his highly-publicized split from Angelina Jolie and said their family has been "ripped apart."
The actor broke his silence about the end of his marriage to Jolie and what it has done to their six children in a new interview with GQ Style.
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In the candid interview, Pitt said that he and Jolie have both vowed not to let things get too ugly in court over the custody of the children.
"I just refuse," he said. "And fortunately my partner in this agrees. It's just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart. If anyone can make sense of it, we have to with great care and delicacy, building everything around that. Our focus is that everyone come out stronger and better people — there is no other outcome."
Pitt also revealed that he is currently in therapy and admitted that he had a problem with alcohol. The 53-year-old said he lives alone now in a Hollywood Hills residence that considers his kids' "childhood home." And although he gets lonely sometimes he does have the companionship of his bulldog named Jacques.
The Allied star said the split itself was very difficult in the beginning, but he has dealt with it since and does not want to allow himself to ever hate Jolie.
"The first urge is to cling on," he confessed. "And then you've got a cliche: If you love someone, set them free. Now I know what it means, by feeling it. It means to love without ownership. It means expecting nothing in return."
Pitt stressed that the most important thing to him is all of this is the happiness and well-being of his children 15-year-old Maddox, 13-year-old Pax, 12-year-old Zahara, 10-year-old Shiloh and 8-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.