Brad Pitt has lots to say about toxic masculinity, accountability amidst abuse allegations

Brad Pitt is at a significant juncture in his career. Following his divorce from Angelina Jolie and vague reports of an incident on the family’s private plane in 2016, Hollywood was more than happy to keep him in the fold; he won his first acting Oscar in 2020 and has experienced continued success in front of and behind the camera.

But as more troubling details emerge about the altercation with Jolie—most recently, accusations that he physically and verbally assaulted not only his wife, but some of their children—he is now forced to be more proactive in laundering his reputation. This seems to include a lot of “sources close to Pitt” discrediting Jolie, but there are also front-facing actions to demonstrate his progressive views, like producing female-centric stories of rape and abuse She Said and Women Talking, launching a genderless skincare line, wearing a skirt to the Bullet Train premiere, and now, launching a collective art exhibition with Nick Cave and Thomas Houseago.

Pitt’s art, he tells the Financial Times, is deeply personal. “It’s all about self-reflection. I was looking at my own life and really concentrating on owning my own shit: where was I complicit in failures in my relationships, where have I mis-stepped,” he shares, alluding to his divorce difficulties. “For me, it was born out of ownership of what I call a radical inventory of self, getting really brutally honest with me, and taking account of those I may have hurt.”

Pitt is hardly the first accused abuser to profess enlightenment and accountability in these kinds of terms. It’s difficult to judge from the outside whether those terms are genuine or simply a way to save face publicly. For the Financial Times, he decries toxic masculinity: “It’s just exhausting to be anything but who you are. You have to understand, at least where I grew up, we’re more the Clint Eastwood character; you hold everything within, you’re capable, you can deal with anything, you don’t show weakness. I see that in my dad and the older generations of actors, and, man, it’s exhausting,” he says.

“As I get older, I find such a comfort in friendships where you can be [completely yourself], and I want that to extend in the outer world. What people make of it: I’m fine. I feel safe here because there’s a focus on our struggles as human beings, because it’s fraught with peril. And joy as well,” the Blonde producer continues. “I find I have to walk with the pain I experience, and I have to walk with the joy, the beauty.” The court of public opinion will have to decide whether it’s buying what Pitt is selling here.