When a child decides not to carry their father’s name anymore, it hurts. When three do it one after the other, it looks like a grassroots movement. Zahara, daughter of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, has just received her diploma at Spelman College. And on stage, a detail said it all: she was called Zahara Marley Jolie. Without Pitt. The third one to take that step.
A divorce that poisons the Pitt-Jolie family since 2016
Everything goes back to the separation between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, a divorce that has become one of the most toxic in Hollywood. Since 2016, the legal battle has dragged on. Custody of the children, vineyard estate, mutual accusations… the conflict has permeated every corner of family life. The six children – Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne – have found themselves in the midst of an emotional minefield.
As a result, the ties between Brad Pitt and his offspring have significantly loosened. In December 2024, a source told Page Six that the 60-year-old actor was spending the year-end holidays in a new kind of solitude. “Brad misses his children and would like to have a closer relationship with them,” explained the source. Like in other celebrity families, the spotlight of Cannes or elsewhere only amplifies these intimate dramas. A distant father, children growing up. And choosing their side.
Zahara erases “Pitt” from her diploma in Atlanta
On Sunday, May 17, Zahara took the stage at Spelman College, a prestigious university in Atlanta, to receive her psychology degree. According to People, the official program of the ceremony mentioned “Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt”. But when her name was announced on stage, it was “Zahara Marley Jolie” that rang out. The paternal surname had disappeared.
This is not a whim. Since November 2023, when she joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, she had already presented herself without the Pitt name. More recently, in April, she had even skipped the Pearls of Purpose charity brunch. A consistency that leaves no doubt about her intention. Zahara, very close to her mother, asserts her identity step by step, ceremony after ceremony. And at 21 years old, each public appearance becomes a symbolic act of separation. The question is whether she will go as far as her sister did in a legal process to formalize this change.
Shiloh, Maddox, Zahara: 3 out of 6 children have already erased the Pitt name
Zahara’s case is not isolated, and other stories of celebrities show how family decisions become public. Shiloh had paved the way by filing a legal request on her 18th birthday, May 27, 2024. A radical, carefully considered gesture to officially abandon her father’s family name.
Then last February, it was Maddox’s turn. During the premiere of the film “Coutures,” directed by Angelina Jolie and in which he was assistant director, his name appeared simply as “Maddox Jolie.” Three out of six children. Half. A pattern that repeats itself with chilling regularity for Brad Pitt.
And the other three? Pax, Knox, and Vivienne remain more discreet. But the trend is clear. Each passing year seems to deepen the gap between the actor and those he raised. The family name, in this saga, has become much more than an administrative formality. It’s a verdict.
Three children, three decisions, one clear message: the Pitt name is gradually fading from this family. Brad Pitt, a global star, faces an intimate rejection that no role in cinema can compensate for. The question now: will Knox, Pax, and Vivienne follow the same path, or will they be the ones to maintain the bond?
