Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, daughter of actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, filed to legally drop “Pitt” from her last name on May 27. The motion has quickly sparked online speculation as to why Shiloh wants to cut association with her father, particularly because she submitted the request on her 18th birthday, the first day she could legally do so.
Shiloh is the oldest biological daughter of Jolie and Pitt, who notoriously met and fell in love on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2003. Their relationship began with controversy as Pitt was married to actress Jennifer Aniston during filming, though he and Jolie denied allegations of an affair at the time. In 2005, however, just one month after Aniston filed for divorce from Pitt due to “irreconcilable differences,” Pitt and Jolie publicly confirmed that they were in a relationship.
In January of 2006, four months after Aniston and Pitt’s divorce was finalized, Jolie announced that she was pregnant with Shiloh, her and Pitt’s first child together. That month, Pitt also adopted Maddox and Zahara, the two children Jolie had previously adopted on her own, and legally changed the kids’ last names to Jolie-Pitt. The couple would go on to adopt another child, Pax, in 2007 and have twins Vivienne and Knox in 2008.
In 2014, after stating for several years that they would only marry when everyone in the United States had the legal right to do so, Jolie and Pitt tied the knot in France. But their decade-long relationship soon came to an end in 2016 when Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt, seeking sole custody of their children.
While a judge ruled Jolie and Pitt to be legally single in 2019, the divorce proceedings have yet to conclude. A lingering property dispute has prevented the divorce from being finalized. And the conflict seems to extend beyond the courtroom too, as Shiloh and Pitt’s other children have directly or indirectly moved to cut ties with their father.
Nineteen-year-old Zahara garnered public interest when she introduced herself only as “Zahara Jolie” at a sorority event in 2023. Fifteen-year-old Vivienne has made a similar move, credited for her work as a production assistant on The Outsiders as “Vivienne Jolie” in the production’s playbill.
Most notably, 20-year-old Pax posted a rant about Pitt on Father’s Day in 2020. Sixteen at the time, Pax posted a photo of his father on his private Instagram story with the caption, “Happy Father’s Day to this world class a**hole!!” He continued on to say that Pitt makes his four youngest children “tremble in fear” and that Pitt has made the lives of Pax’s loved ones a “constant hell.” Though posted privately, the post was soon leaked to the media.
These incidents, along with Shiloh’s recent move, have left the public wondering what exactly happened between Pitt and his children.
A source close to Pitt told People on June 3 that Pitt was “aware and upset” about Shiloh’s decision to change her last name.
“The reminders that he’s lost his children, is of course not easy for Brad,” the source told People. “He loves his children and misses them. It’s very sad.”
Shiloh’s request has yet to be granted and she has not publicly commented on the status of her relationship with her father.
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