Before the red carpets and tabloid headlines merged into one, there was a friendship between Brad Pitt and Chris Cornell that was refreshingly unguarded. They were two men facing huge pressures in the public eye and facing each other’s inner weaknesses—and knowing that such an understanding resulted in a bond that few people witness. Cornell’s death of suicide on May 18, 2017, at the age of fifty-two was more than just a celebrity passing for Pitt. All accounts are that it was a profound and significant split. A close friend of the actor recently revealed that Pitt was “devastated” by Cornell’s death, saying they had been “brotherly” friends. He is missing “a very big hole,” he said, where Cornell was.
That’s the part that is impressive, though, is how Pitt has decided to move forward with that grief. He has instead turned his focus more privately toward his three children at Cornell, Christopher, Toni and Lillian. Without his father, Pitt has found a purpose that grounds his life for a purpose, according to those who know him. “A huge part of Brad’s sobriety journey in the last five or six years has been to show up, to support and encourage people to be in the spotlight,” an insider said. You see that in Toni’s kids, with Chris, where Brad is really creating opportunities for her now that she’s a full fledged singer.
Especially that last one. Toni Cornell has been steadily developing her own style and sound, producing her own songs and carving out her own niche, in a music industry that would not turn its back on her father’s legendary presence. At a 2019 concert in Los Angeles, titled “I Am the Highway: A Tribute to Chris Cornell,” Pitt was seen to be quite emotional as he introduced Toni on stage. Later, she was onstage with Ziggy Marley and for anyone on the sidelines, it couldn’t have been a more powerful moment. Pitt was far from being a celebrity to lend credibility to an event. He was a substitute for a friend gone away, he was there in a way that could only be in the absence.
Their friendship only becomes more evident when you hear how Cornell helped Pitt in his own struggles. A friend of the actor indicated that Pitt was “very hard hit” by Cornell’s death, “more like a member of his family.” The friend said that Chris was “on the team” with Brad and that it was an honest and loyal friendship that was based upon a mutual understanding. “Chris was there when Brad confronted his demons, and helped him go through it and have a happy, sober life. Some have even claimed that Cornell was an informal sponsor of Pitt. The insider said, “Some believe that Chris became his AA sponsor while he was speaking to him on the phone every day and giving him an AA book.” “Brad’s support group member was Chris – now he’s gone.”
The final line sticks in my mind. Grief is not linear when it is from a relationship that included regular phone calls and openness. It comes out in times of quiet, when a voice once familiar to you is gone, when you realize the person who knows you best and has confidence in you is behind you. It did not go away for Pitt. Rather, he has discovered a way to pay tribute to Cornell’s memory by treating his children not as a charitable cause, but as an extension of the man he loved. “With the kids, he is very serious about his responsibility as a father,” said an inside source.
However, there is another side to this story – one that has been followed for years by the public. Pitt’s relationship with his own six kids, with Angelina Jolie, is extremely strained, and he has a particular feud with Zahara, the daughter of his former wife, Brittany Schneider. In 2024, there was reportedly “virtually no contact” between Pitt and the adult children. Other outlets have said that at least four of the children have dropped his last name in some way, a subtle but clear indication of emotional distance. This is a shocking contrast. Here is a man who shows up on their public and private lives for his late friend’s children, who is holding space for their ambitions, and their grief, while his own children have mostly moved away from him.
But what makes it so complicated is the fact that it’s not easily moralistic. It’s possible to say that Pitt exemplifies what is best in himself – loyalty, generosity, emotional availability – as he is dedicated to Cornell’s children. Others may draw the inference that the same amount of energy is not being put into fixing his own family, raising some uncomfortable questions about why the rift has been maintained for such a long time? But sometimes, both are true! It seems that Pitt can be a very loyal surrogate dad for the Cornell kids and be a poor substitute for his own dad. Relationships between people are seldom a single, pure story.
Looking at the big picture, it’s also a lesson in the ways in which grief and addiction can alter priorities in surprising ways. Pitt has been candid about his own path to recovery, and several sources have stated that helping others has played a pivotal part in his recovery. It’s not just a gesture of kindness when helping Cornell’s kids step into the spotlight, as one insider said. Also, it’s a way of being useful and staying grounded in self-preservation. That doesn’t excuse the rifts in his own family, but that does explain why those rifts haven’t got the best of him.
