Brad Pitt’s relationship with his children appears to have grown increasingly fractured since his and Angelina Jolie’s 2016 split.
The Babylon actor 60, and the Maleficent actress, 48, share six children: Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15, having adopted the eldest three.
But slowly his children – who all began with Pitt as their surname – are changing their names to Jolie instead.
His youngest daughter Vivienne just became the fourth sibling to formally distance herself from her father’s name.
The 18-year-old has legally filed to remove ‘Pitt’ from her surname, following in the footsteps of siblings Shiloh, Zahara, and Maddox.
Court records reportedly list the reason for the change simply as ‘personal’, with a hearing scheduled for November.
In 2024 – and on her 18th birthday – Shiloh filed paperwork to change her name to Shiloh Jolie, dropping Pitt from her last name, according to TMZ.
A source toldPeople he was ‘aware and upset’ by the decision, adding: ‘He’s never felt more joy than when she was born. He always wanted a daughter.’
‘The reminders that he’s lost his children, is of course not easy for Brad. He loves his children and misses them. It’s very sad,’ they added.
But what initially appeared to be an isolated decision has since become a clear pattern.
Vivienne’s filing comes after adopted siblings Zahara, 21, and Maddox, 24, also began the legal process of removing Pitt from their surnames earlier this year.
According to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail, both Zahara — who was adopted by Angelina in 2005 in Ethiopia, and Maddox, who was also adopted by her in Cambodia in 2002 — have published notices of their intentions in the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
Under California law, both were required to publish notices of their intended name changes in a local newspaper before their court hearings, which are expected to take place in September.
Long before taking formal legal action, both had already begun publicly using Jolie instead of Jolie-Pitt.
Zahara introduced herself as Zahara Marley Jolie when joining the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 2023 and was announced by the same name during her university graduation earlier this year.
Maddox, meanwhile, was credited simply as Maddox Jolie on Angelina Jolie’s recent film Couture.
Even before Vivienne’s legal filing, she had quietly omitted Pitt from her name in the playbill for the Broadway production of The Outsiders, where she worked alongside her mother as a producer’s assistant.
Why are Brad Pitt’s children changing their names to Jolie?
In 2022, a source told People Brad was hoping to improve his relationship with his children, which has been in ‘a bad situation for years.’
‘Since Angelina filed for divorce, Brad has been focused on having the best relationship possible with his kids. It’s been very difficult for him. Many times, there have been long gaps where he didn’t see the kids at all,’ the insider said.
Once Hollywood’s most famous couple, everything crumbled following a private plane journey from France to California, in which Jolie accused her husband of being drunk and aggressive.
She claims he grabbed her by the head, injured her back and elbow, choked one of their children, and struck another.
The altercation was said to have started between him and one of his children, which escalated into a physical fight, in which he poured beer and wine over his family, Jolie claimed.
Five days later Jolie filed for divorce, and eight years after their split, the former couple finally reached a divorce settlement.
In the years since their marriage breakdown, the pair have also been locked in a lengthy legal battle over a French winery.
In October 2021 Jolie sold her half of their shared winery, known as Château Miraval, for $67million (£51million) after discussions for Pitt to buy her out fell through
The following year he sued his ex-wife, claiming her decision to sell her stake to SPI Group owner Yuri Shefler was in violation of their previous agreement to not sell up without the other’s approval.
In a countersuit, she then said that Pitt had secretly manoeuvred to take control of the winery, also accusing him of ‘waging a vindictive war against’ her since she filed for divorce.
Authorities received an anonymous tip-off about the incident, sparking an FBI investigation, which was ultimately closed with no charges made.
Pitt has always denied all the claims made against him, and previously responded to them via a statement from his lawyer, which read: ‘Brad has owned everything he’s responsible for from day one – unlike the other side – but he’s not going to own anything he didn’t do.’
‘He has been on the receiving end of every type of personal attack and misrepresentation.’
In 2020, Brad’s friends flocked to support him after a then 16-year-old Pax shared a scathing Father’s Day message, written on top of a picture of the actor collecting his Oscar for Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
‘Happy Father’s Day to this world-class a**hole,’ he said.
‘You time and time again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person.’
In the post, unearthed by MailOnline, Pax went on: ‘You have no consideration or empathy towards your four youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence.
‘You will never understand the damage you have done to my family because you are incapable of doing so.’
Pax concluded: ‘You have made the lives of those closest to me a constant hell. You may tell yourself and the world whatever you want but the truth will come to light someday.
‘So Happy Father’s Day, you f*****g awful human being.’
Jolie adopted him from a Vietnamese orphanage in 2007 with Brad formally adopting him a year later.
People in Brad’s inner circle branded the allegations a ‘depressing smear’.
Angelina Jolie has claimed Brad Pitt’s alleged abuse predated the 2016 plane journey
During a legal dispute over their Miraval winery, the Tomb Raider actress recently claimed Pitt’s alleged abuse predated the infamous plane journey.
‘Pitt’s history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s plane trip from France to Los Angeles… this flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well,’ her attorneys claim in court papers released in 2024, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The papers went on to claim Jolie has evidence of ‘Pitt’s history of physical abuse of the family and control abuse of Jolie’ and it also alleged the children continue to experience ‘significant and ongoing post-traumatic stress’.
Attorneys for Jolie referred to the ‘history of abuse, control and cover-ups’ and claimed the actress has ‘testimony, emails, photographs, and other evidence’ which they claim will show how Pitt tried to conceal his behaviour if they come to trial.
Pitt has always denied all claims against him.
Angelina Jolie claims Pitt attempted to make her sign an NDA
In a motion filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court, Jolie claimed she tried to sell Pitt her stake in the wine business, but negotiations ultimately broke down after he conditioned the sale on his ex-wife signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
They claim the NDA ‘prohibited Jolie from speaking (other than in court) about Pitt’s abuse of Jolie and their children by attempting to tie Pitt’s personal reputation to Miraval’s business.’
The Hollywood actress claimed she agreed to sign an NDA that was ‘limited to not disparaging Miraval’s wine business’ as part of her agreement to sell Pitt her stake in the company.
The filing added: ‘At trial, Jolie will prove through testimony, emails, photographs, and other evidence why Pitt was so concerned about his own misconduct that he blew up his own deal to purchase Jolie’s interest in Miraval because she refused to agree to his new, expansive NDA.’
The documents went on to state the Eternals actress didn’t press charges in relation to the alleged altercation on the plane because she believed ‘the best course was for Pitt to accept responsibility and help the family recover from the post-traumatic stress he caused.’
The winery dispute was sparked when Jolie sold her half to Tenute del Mondo, a subsidiary of Stoli Group.
Pitt then sued her in 2022 for allegedly going against an agreement he said they had made not to sell up without getting approval from the other.