Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's son files to drop actor's last name
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's son files to drop actor's last name
Liza Esquibias, USA TODAYFri, May 29, 2026 at 6:24 PM UTC
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Maddox Jolie-Pitt is taking steps to legally remove Pitt from his last name.
The 24-year-old son of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt filed paperwork on Friday, April 17, to officially change his name from Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt to Maddox Chivan Jolie, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY. He cited the reason as "personal."
The switch comes months after Maddox made headlines for dropping his father's surname from his latest professional role as an assistant director on Jolie's movie "Couture." At the February debut of the French film, the end credits listed him as Maddox Jolie, marking the first time he publicly presented with a different name, as he went by Maddox Jolie-Pitt in his prior credit for Netflix's "Maria" in 2024.
Several of Pitt and Jolie's six children no longer include Pitt in their surname
In addition to Maddox, their eldest, Pitt, 62, and Jolie are parents to: Pax, 22; Zahara, 21; Shiloh, 20; and twins Vivienne and Knox, 17.
On Shiloh's 18th birthday in May 2024, she filed a petition to change her name from Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie. The request was granted three months later by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, according to a filing reviewed by USA TODAY.
Angelina Jolie wins fight with Brad Pitt in long-running winery battle
Also in May 2024, Vivienne, whose name is still legally Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, was credited as Vivienne Jolie in the Playbill for the buzzy Broadway musical "The Outsiders," which she worked on as an assistant while her mom produced.
That same year, a video posted by Essence captured Zahara introducing herself without Pitt in her last name during an event for her sorority at Spelman College.
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“My name is Zahara Marley Jolie. And (I) landed all the way from the Golden State in the city full of angels: Los Angeles, California,” she said.
Pax Thien Jolie-Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Zahara Marley Jolie and Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt attend the MARIA Spotlight Screening and Q&A on Sept. 29, 2024, in New York City.Pitt and Jolie have had a tumultuous past, including a years-long legal battle following their 2016 split
The famous duo began dating in 2005 and married in 2014. In September 2016, the "Maleficent" actress filed for divorce.
Over the next eight years, the exes were engulfed in an ongoing legal battle, launching separate proceedings over custody of their six children and control of their French vineyard Château Miraval. It was during their dispute over the winery that Jolie accused Pitt of attacking her and their children while aboard a private jet on a family trip days before her divorce filing.
Jolie's lawyers alleged in an October 2022 filing that Pitt "grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her, and then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again before pushing her into the bathroom wall," while on a flight from Chateau Miraval in France to California. The filing also alleged that Pitt was violent with some of his children during the altercation.
Pitt denied the allegations, and the FBI declined to pursue an investigation or charges after looking into the incident.
In January 2025, the former couple officially reached a divorce settlement.
Contributing:KiMi RobinsonandCharles Trepany, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's son Maddox to legally drop actor's name
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
