Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Zahara has taken legal steps to permanently strike her father’s name from her identity. The news came weeks after the famous father skipped Zahara’s graduation ceremony.
Ever since the Jolie-Pitt power couple split in 2016, the growing distance between the actor and some of his children has been playing out quietly behind the scenes. Now, the six siblings seem to be making the distance official, with 21-year-old Zahara being the latest to put it in writing.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Zahara wants to permanently strike her father’s name from her identity
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Zahara has officially filed a petition in the Superior Court of California to have “Pitt” removed from her last name.
The 21-year-old reportedly filed the paperwork on April 28, asking for her name, Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt, to be changed to Zahara Marley Jolie.
The legal documents were only processed on June 5, and Zahara is reportedly expected to appear in court in September to explain her reasons for the change.
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“It’s sad to see someone repeatedly publicize their successful alienation of their children from the other parent,” a source close to the Fight Club actor told People after the news of Zahara’s petition.
The move made Zahara the third child from the Jolie-Pitt offspring to legally drop their father’s name.
Her older brother, Maddox, 24, also made a legal request to drop “Pitt” from his name in May.
It is sad to see the “successful alienation of their children” from Pitt being publicized, a source said
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Younger sister Shiloh, who turned 20 last month, had made things official by filing to remove Pitt from her last name on her 18th birthday.
Making “an independent and significant decision following painful events,” Shiloh hired her own lawyer and paid for the process herself, her lawyer Peter Levine told People at the time.
Zahara’s legal move made her the third child from the Jolie-Pitt offspring to legally drop their father’s name
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After Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in 2016, the Hollywood heavyweights became engaged in a heated eight-year divorce and custody battle over their six children, Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, and twins Knox and Vivienne.
“The children are now adults and make their own decisions,” an insider told Us Weekly after the news of Zahara’s petition.
“It’s really horrible that he [Pitt] has tried to paint himself as a victim,” they added. “When will people start asking real questions about what happened to the kids?”
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As per the couple’s current custody agreement, the F1 star only holds visitation rights with his minor children, Knox and Vivienne.
Even Vivienne seemingly made subtle moves in the past to distance herself from Pitt.
She had her name listed as “Vivienne Jolie” in the Playbill for the 2024 Broadway adaptation of The Outsiders, which she worked on alongside her mother.
“It’s really horrible that he [Pitt] has tried to paint himself as a victim,” an insider said
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When Zahara graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta last month, her name on the commencement program was listed as Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt.
But when she walked onstage, her name was read as “Zahara Marley Jolie.”
She had also introduced herself as “Zahara Marley Jolie” while joining the Mu Pi chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Spelman College in 2023.
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Sources claimed Pitt didn’t even call to congratulate the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology graduate on the day she received her degree certificate.
“Zahara’s mom and siblings, who have been involved over the four very special years, were present and cheering her and her Spelman sisters on,” a source close to Jolie told TMZ earlier this month.
The source said the day was about Zahara’s accomplishment and not about “whether [Pitt] was willing to attend.”
“Nothing prevented him from showing up for her. Or ever visiting her,” they added.
Pitt reportedly didn’t even call to congratulate Zahara when she graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta last month
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Jolie has an “amazing relationship” with Zahara, whom she adopted in 2005 from an orphanage in Ethiopia when she was just 6 months old.
The Girl, Interrupted actress has shown up for “pretty much everything” in Zahara’s life, from college move-in weekend to her sorority events, and all the way up to her graduation, a source told People in May.
“She’s been very supportive and involved,” they added. “She wanted Zahara to have the best experience.”
Zahara sang praises for her mother while attending the Pearls of Purpose Foundation’s Dearest Mother & Daughter: A Most Delightful Brunch Experience in April.
Welcomed as a special guest to the event, the 21-year-old daughter described Jolie as “the most selfless, loving and understanding woman.”
She said she has a “mom who raised [them] on the value of helping others, being kind, and always striving for growth as people.”
“These values may sound simple, but in a world where kindness is overlooked and helping others comes at a cost, I am grateful to have had a role model to show me what it looks like to be a decent human being,” she went on to say.
“Oh boy what is going on in this family,” one netizen commented online
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