12 Celebrities Who Opened Up About Their Alcoholics Anonymous Experience

Find out what these stars said about AA…

Brad Pitt first joined AA in 2016 after his ex, Angelina Jolie, filed for divorce. Looking back, he says that while he was at a low point, it proved to be an “amazing thing” for him. He was able to immediately be open with the group who all safeguarded his privacy.

“I just thought it was just incredible men sharing their experiences, their foibles, their missteps, their wants, their aches, and a lot of humor with it. I thought it was a really special experience,” Brad said on an episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard.

He added, “I was pretty much on my knees, and I was really open. I was trying anything and everyone. Anything anyone threw at me. It was a difficult time. I needed rebooting. I needed to wake the f--k up in some areas. And it just meant a lot to me.”

Back in 2003, Tobey Maguire opened up about attending AA meetings and how it was a major game changer for him. In an interview, he commended the “no-frills spirituality” of the program, which helped him work to overcome his addiction.

“It’s just all practical. There are no holes in the program. It’s so, so simple. I come in, I ask for help. It has totally changed my life,” Tobey told Playboy at the time.

In 2013, Zac Efron checked into rehab amid his struggles with alcohol and after completing his stint, he decided to start seeing a therapist and attending AA. While being asked about the experience at the time, he said he had just started attending meetings but it had already made a huge difference for him.

“I was drinking a lot, way too much. It’s never one specific thing. I mean, you’re in your 20s, single, going through life in Hollywood, you know? Everything is thrown at you,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I just started going [to AA]. And I think it’s changed my life. I’m much more comfortable in my own skin. Things are so much easier now.”

Naomi Campbell struggled with her sobriety in the late ’90s and early 2000s, a period which she admits she had a hard time even looking at herself in the mirror. To help her get sober, she turned to Alcoholics Anonymous.

“The time between 1998 and 2005 was especially bad,” she shared with Vogue. “During that time I avoided looking in the mirror, because I didn’t like the person who was looking back at me. To be honest, there were times I thought I wouldn’t survive. I used to have a lot of problems. Amongst others I drank too much so I joined Alcoholics Anonymous to get and stay sober.”

Jamie Lee Curtis attended her first AA meeting in 1998 and recently commemorated the anniversary of joining, which happened to fall soon after the Palisades fire that destroyed the church where the meeting was held. Looking back, she shared just how much her life had changed since taking the first steps to recovery.

“26 years ago today I walked into my first recovery meeting. Since then, my life has completely changed. I have made beautiful, beautiful, friendships and it has expanded my life beyond recovery and it has given me the family life and creative life. I never thought possible,” she wrote on social media.

She continued, “To every person I have come in contact with who have shared their experience, strength and hope as it relates to alcoholism and drug addiction, I thank you for your courage and welcome and for all those who came before us, and for those who have followed, thank you.”

Ben Affleck has spoken openly about being an alcoholic, which includes being an active AA member. While he says he didn’t intend to become one of the “poster boys for actor alcoholism,” he appreciates that he has the opportunity to help other people.

“The best part about that is that sometimes people call me up and they’re like, ‘Hey, can you help me out?’ And it makes me feel so good to do that. The big trick of 12-step is the reason they want you to help other people is because it actually helps you more,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

He continued, “And often what I’ll say to people is, I would avoid [your addiction] coming out if I were you. You don’t need to be anybody’s poster child. You don’t need to f--king tell anybody. That’s why there’s two words on the front of the book. They’re just as important, both of them: Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s always anonymous.”

Demi Lovato has been a longtime member of Alcoholics Anonymous and recounted one particular moment where she left a major event to attend a meeting. Back in 2016, Demi was attending the Met Gala and after bumping into another celebrity who was a “b--tch and miserable to be around,” Demi found herself feeling out of place at the “cliquey” event.

“I remember being so uncomfortable that I wanted to drink,” she told Billboard, sharing that she left and headed to a 10 p.m. AA meeting. “I changed my clothes, but I still had my diamonds on -- millions of dollars of diamonds on in an AA meeting. And I related more to the homeless people in that meeting who struggled with the same struggles that I deal with than the people at the Met Gala – fake and sucking the fashion industry’s dick.”

Lindsay Lohan had many ups and downs in her sobriety journey, which included becoming a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. Back in 2006, she admitted that she’d already been going to meetings for a year. Then, several years later, Lindsay made headlines once again because of a private list she had written during an early meeting she attended at a rehab center. On the list, she had written down all the names of her previous sexual partners -- and someone ended up leaking it.

“That [list] was actually my fifth step in AA at Betty Ford, and someone -- when I was moving during the OWN show -- must have taken a photo of it,” she said on Watch What Happens Live. “So that’s a really personal thing. It’s really unfortunate.”

Before Matthew Perry’s passing, he was a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and actually sponsored three members. While he was active in the organization, he wasn’t a big fan of everything they did. He explained that although the program provided “the gift of anonymity,” he believed it created a stigma around alcoholism.

“It suggests that there’s a stigma and that we have to hide,” Matthew told The New York Times. “This is not a popular opinion, by the way.”

Shia LaBeouf says his first AA meeting saved his life. Years ago, Shia was experiencing suicidal thoughts and was ready to take his own life when his friend Josh Brolin told him to join him for an online meeting. The words from one of the speakers ended up being exactly what he needed to hear.

“So I’m in my judgment and the gun is right here. I’m like, ‘You better say something that’s really gonna get me the f--k out of where I’m at. After like two minutes, I felt something like presence…I stopped thinking about my hustle, the gun almost disappeared and I’m sitting here on this Skype call and I’m present for the first time in my life,” he shared on REAL ONES with Jon Bernthal.

In 2020, Elton John celebrated 30 years of sobriety and through the decades, he has continually attended AA meetings. Early in the pandemic, Elton expressed how Zoom had been a lifesaver for him as he was able to still connect with his group.

“I’m a recovering alcoholic so I have an AA meeting from this house every Sunday. I connect with my friends who I’ve known for over 30 years in the program, and that's great,” he said on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Archewell Audio podcast. “If it hadn’t have been for Zoom, I don’t know what we would’ve done, I really don’t, without Zoom. It's been a lifesaver.”

Jelly Roll first began attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings when he was just 14. While he doesn’t remember his first time attending, which was mandated by a judge, the musician says he’s “never been more inspired than leaving an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting or a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.”

“I definitely remember the first time that I found solace in those rooms, or the first time that I kind of got introduced to the concept of this. And how much stuff I’ve taken from them rooms,” he shared on SiriusXM’s The Highway. “I think everybody should experience one if you’ve never drank in your life. I still think that there is something from it that is, you know, the good ones are like good theater. They’ll make you listen, you'll learn, you’ll laugh and you’ll cry.”