Brad Pitt has turned to hypnotherapy in a desperate, last-ditch bid to quit smoking.
The 47-year-old “Moneyball” star realized he had to kick the bad habit once and for all after two of his young daughters – Zahara, 6, and Shiloh, 5 – caught him sneaking a cigarette behind the family’s rented mansion in Budapest, where he’s filming the zombie flick “World War Z.”
“He was puffing away in back of the house when the girls spotted him,” a source revealed. “Brad quickly threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped on it, but it was too late. He was caught red-handed.
“Zahara said, ‘Daddy, didn’t you always say that smoking’s bad for you?’
“Brad did not have an answer for her. He felt like the world’s biggest hypocrite.
“He knew it wasn’t right to tell his kids about how bad cigarettes are when he is still smoking them.
“That’s when he decided to get treatment.”
Realizing he needed help, the embarrassed father of six turned to an American hospital in the Hungarian capital that offers private sessions with a hypnotherapist, at $300 a pop.
Along with the treatment, Brad is also sucking on nicotine lollipops and chewing nicotine gum to ease his cravings.
Meanwhile, this was not the first time that Pitt’s been caught sneaking a puff.
As The ENQUIRER reported in August, a furious Angelina Jolie nabbed Brad smoking marijuana TWICE in two secret drug dens, sources say, and read him the riot act for getting high despite her demands that he quit.
“Brad’s past attempts to quit smoking – whether it’s dope or cigarettes – have always been halfhearted,” noted the source. “Now, he’s finally gotten serious.
“That’s why he’s turned to hypnotherapy. He’s doing it for the sake of his family.”
