What seemed like a bulletproof love story began to unravel during the private flight that Brad Pitt (62), Angelina Jolie (51), and their six children took from Nice to Los Angeles in mid-September 2016. Screams, blows, and insults led years later to almost all the siblings deciding to side with their mother and remove their father's last name.
The first to do so was Shiloh (20), who, upon turning 18, decided to remove Pitt from her name. Her older brother, Maddox (24), followed shortly after, as did Vivienne Marcheline, who, although not yet of legal age, included her name in the official credits of the Broadway playThe Outsiders as a production assistant, under the name Vivienne Joli. A few weeks ago, on his official graduation certificate, Knox Léon, Vivienne's twin, also formalized his name change.
The latest, so far, has been Zahara (21), who in May started legal proceedings in the California Superior Court to erase her father's name from hers, according to People magazine. Already in 2023, Zahara had joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sisterhood at Spelman College (where she was studying), introducing herself as Zahara Marley Jolie in the presentation video.
According to Page Six, the only one apparently still retaining both last names is Pax Thien (22), which is surprising considering that when Brad Pitt won the Oscar in 2020 and thanked his children, the young man wrote on his Instagram profile: "Happy Father's Day to this world-class jerk! Time and time again you prove to be a terrible and despicable person."
When Pitt left his first wife, Jennifer Aniston (57), for Angelina during the filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, a new era for paparazzi began. In 2005, Brangelina was born, the acronym by which they have gone down in history. In 2008, they acquired for $60 million their most significant property, Château Miraval, a 500-hectare vineyard located in Correns (Provence) dating back to the 1st century BC. It was precisely there where the last family dinner was held. The next day, they flew to California. Pitt's crucifixion had begun to take shape. As they crossed the Atlantic, he began to drink excessively, leading to an outburst of anger.
Five days after landing, Angelina began the divorce proceedings and legal custody of the children, citing "irreconcilable differences." Following her complaint, the FBI and the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) launched investigations into Pitt. Countless rumors emerged. The media and fans took sides, but the children were the ones most affected. After several months of inquiries, interviews, and investigations (the actor was never arrested or charged), the actress did not press charges against him, and the investigation was closed.
The divorce process dragged on until 2019, and two years later, a shared custody agreement was reached, requiring Angelina to reside in Los Angeles to stay close to her ex-husband's residence. Therefore, to start anew, she bought the former mansion of Cecil B. DeMille for $30 million. In late 2022, Pitt met Inés de Ramón (33), a Spanish-born businesswoman linked to the jewelry industry, with whom he formalized his relationship on the red carpet in Venice in 2024. This was the actor's first relationship after the separation.
To understand why Brangelina's children requested to officially remove the Pitt surname, one must look at the leak of the 53-page FBI judicial report accessed by Entertainment Tonight in August 2022.
In it, Jolie detailed the accusations against her then-husband after the incident on the private jet. The actor was under the influence of alcohol and at one point shouted at his wife at the back of the plane so their children wouldn't see. "He grabbed her by the head and shook her, then grabbed her shoulders and shook her again before pushing her against the bathroom wall." In the midst of the altercation, Pitt "hit the plane's ceiling about four times" and yelled at Jolie: "You're ruining this family". Upon hearing the argument, one of the children, then aged between 8 and 15, approached the couple and asked, "Is Mom okay?" An enraged Pitt quickly replied, "No, Mom is not okay. She's ruining this family. She's crazy."
Subsequently, "Pitt lunged at his own son and Jolie grabbed him from behind to stop him," leading Jolie to defend the child, further provoking the actor's anger. "To get Jolie off him, Pitt threw himself back against the plane seats, injuring her back and elbow." The situation had become so chaotic that "the children ran, and they all tried to protect each other. Before it ended, Pitt strangled one of the children and hit another in the face."
Due to this turmoil, the couple's children initiated the legal name change years later. A source told The Telegraph that "family members often take sides in a bitter divorce, but it is unusual to see children publicly declare their loyalty to one parent and distance themselves from the other."