It feels like a lifetime ago that Brad Pitt left Jennifer Aniston to pursue a scandalous romance with his Mr. & Mrs. Smith co-star, Angelina Jolie.
In case you recently emerged from a decade-long coma, it didn’t work out, and Pitt and Jolie separated last year after 10 years and 40,000 kids together.
The split has apparently had a transformative effect on Brad, who says he’s taken time to re-evaluate his life and priorities.
In May, Pitt revealed that he’d quit drinking after more than 30 years of heavy boozing and regular recreational drug use.
Pitt says during his time in rehab he reflected on the relationships in his life in new light.
Most rehabilitation programs encourage patients to accept responsibility for their past actions, and sources say the actor has done exactly that.
According to Life & Style, Pitt went so far as to reach out and apologize to Aniston for being unfaithful during their marriage.
“Brad apologized for all the heartbreak,” an insider revealed.
“He doesn’t usually open up like that, but through therapy and recovery, he’s learned to express his feelings. He addressed all the hurt he caused her.”
Obviously, Jen – who these days is married to actor Justin Theroux – could have chosen to be petty and gloat about Pitt’s recent difficulties, but insiders say she was gracious and supportive throughout the conversation.
“She was really won over by his apology,” a source tells the tabloid.
“A new era has begun for them.”
“She was incredibly receptive to the amends he was making. She told him she forgives him and to focus on the future,” a second source claims.
While it’s difficult to imagine Brad making that phone call after so many years, but the move would make sense in the context of what he says he’s learned in rehab.
Speaking to GQ about his newly-sober life, Brad says he’s learned a great deal about the ways in which the actions of the past stay with us, and he hopes to pass those lessons along to his kids.
“Well, there’s a lot to tell them because there’s understanding the future, there’s understanding the immediate moment and why we’re at this point, and then it brings up a lot of issues from the past that we haven’t talked about,” he told GQ.
“So our focus is that everyone comes out stronger and better people — there is no other outcome.”
