Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s adopted son, Maddox, has dealt a new blow to his father amid the actor’s reported estrangement from his family.
The 24-year-old, who was adopted by Angelina in 2002, and later by Brad in 2006, filed to legally remove “Pitt” from his surname on Thursday, as per the Daily Mail. He will now go by Maddox Chivan Jolie, and listed the reason for his name change as “personal”.
The eldest of the Jolie-Pitt children hinted at the major change back in February, when he was listed as “Maddox Jolie” in the credits of Angelina’s film, Couture. A year prior, he went by “Maddox Jolie-Pitt” in the credits for the actress’s 2024 film Maria.
Maddox is not the first of Angelina and Brad’s six children to distance themselves from their dad. Shiloh legally removed “Pitt” from her surname after turning 18 in 2024, with her lawyer Peter Levine sharing insight into the major move.
He told People that Shiloh “made an independent and significant decision following painful events,” perhaps referring to the alleged plane incident in 2016 that reportedly led to Brad and Angelina’s divorce.
Maddox’s other sisters, Zahara and Vivienne, have also erased Brad’s surname. The former’s name was read out as “Zahara Marley Jolie” during her Spelman College graduation in May, and Vivienne chose to be identified as “Vivienne Jolie” in 2024 on the playbill for The Outsiders, which she worked on with her mother.
© GettyBrad and Angelina’s other two sons, Pax and Knox, have yet to indicate whether they have dropped “Pitt” from their surnames, yet all are reportedly estranged from Brad.
Learn more about their name changes below…
The former couple began dating in 2005, and tied the knot in 2014 before Angelina filed for divorce in 2016. They were allegedly involved in a dispute while traveling with their kids on a private plane that same year, with the details largely kept under wraps.
The Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services concluded its investigation into the incident and ruled that there were no findings of abuse. What followed was a bitter custody battle between the two, leading to eight years of divorce proceedings.
© Anadolu via Getty ImagesAngelina hinted at their custody agreement in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, revealing that she had to stay in Los Angeles until her 17-year-old twins, Vivienne and Knox, were legal adults.
© Getty“I am here because I have to be here from a divorce, but as soon as they’re 18, I’ll be able to leave,” she told the outlet. “When you have a big family, you want them to have privacy, peace, and safety.”
“I have a house now to raise my children, but sometimes this place can be… that humanity that I found across the world is not what I grew up with here,” she continued. “I’ll spend a lot of time in Cambodia. I’ll spend time visiting my family members, wherever they may be in the world.”
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