Entertainment
Angelina Jolie’s Daughter Shiloh “Hired Her Own Lawyer” to Drop Her Dad Brad Pitt’s Last Name, Source Says
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s eldest biological daughter, Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, has petitioned to change her name—allegedly on her own dime.
A few days after Shiloh filed paperwork to officially drop her estranged father’s last name, a source is claiming she hired and paid for her own lawyer to legally drop Pitt from her name. “Shiloh hired her own lawyer and paid for it herself,” a source told People. According to the source, Jolie’s allegations that Pitt has an “abuse history” was one of the reasons why Shiloh sought legal action.
Shiloh filed the paperwork to request a legal name change on Memorial Day, May 27—which was also the day Shiloh turned 18, officially becoming an adult. She is one of Jolie and Pitt’s three biological children, the other two being 15-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox. The exes also share three adopted children: Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, and Zahara, 19.
While Shiloh is the only Jolie-Pitt child who has filed to legally drop her father’s surname, Zahara has also been going only by Zahara Jolie (sans Pitt). In a recent performance for her college sorority, she introduced herself without her hyphenated surname, and simply went by “Zahara Marley Jolie.” And Vivienne, who recently helped her mother produce the Broadway show The Outsiders, opted to be credited in Playbill as “Vivienne Jolie,” rather than her previous “Vivienne Jolie-Pitt.”
Jolie and Pitt began dating in 2005 after meeting on the set of action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith (while Pitt was still married to his first wife, Jennifer Aniston). The two officially wed in 2014, but split two years later after Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, citing an alleged altercation involving the kids on a plane. Since then, the actors have been tied up in a messy legal battle over their separation, assets, and custody of their children.
Earlier this year, in documents filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by CNN, Jolie’s lawyers say that negotiations with Pitt broke down when he attempted to impose a restrictive NDA that would have “prohibited Jolie from speaking (other than in court) about Pitt’s abuse of Jolie and their children.” According to Pitt’s lawyers, his personal reputation was not to be considered when it came to custody of business, including the winery purchased by the former couple.
Maya Ernest is an editor who covers everything from the latest fashion news to features that investigate personal style, social media trends, and thoughtful consumption.