Brad PItt
Brad Pitt attends the UK Premiere of "Allied" at Odeon Leicester Square in London, Nov. 21, 2016. Getty Images

Actor Brad Pitt tipped off his ex, estranged wife Angelina Jolie, before his bombshell interview with GQ magazine hit stands Wednesday. The Hollywood star opened up about their divorce and former drinking problems in one of his most candid conversation yet.

While the GQ article was a surprise to most people, Jolie had already been informed. “He's committed to having a healthy relationship with her,” an insider told E! Online Thursday.

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

Jolie, 40, filed for divorce in September after two years of marriage. They had been together for more than a decade. They have six children: Maddox, Pax, Shiloh, Zahara, Vivienne and Knox. Three months after Jolie filed for divorce, they settled on a custody agreement. It was the “Tomb Raider” star who was granted custody.

The agreement is temporary and the former couples wants to raise their children together even though they separated.

One of the most intimate parts of the interview was when he talked about the Los Angeles County's Department of Children and Family Services investigating him for allegedly being involved in an incident with Maddox on a private plane. The case was ultimately closed.

“I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called,” he told GQ in the Wednesday interview. “After that, we've been able to work together to sort this out. We're both doing our best.”

One of the things Pitt didn’t want to do was fight with Jolie over their children once the relationship was over.

“I heard one lawyer say, ‘No one wins in court—it's just a matter of who gets hurt worse,’” he continued. “And it seems to be true. You spend a year just focused on building a case to prove your point and why you're right and why they're wrong, and it's just an investment in vitriolic hatred. I just refuse. And fortunately my partner in this agrees. It's just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart.”

The actor also opened up about his former drinking problems.

“...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.”

In her future without Pitt, Jolie said she wants to continue her international work and hopes her children will join her. “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 in a March interview. “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.”

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