Why has Brad Pitt's daughter removed his surname from hers?
Previously known as Shiloh JoliePitt, the actor’s daughter filed to change her name to just keep her mother Angelina Jolie’s last name on her 18th birthday on 27 March. A source close to Pitt told People: “He’s aware and upset that Shiloh dropped his last name. He’s never felt more joy than when she was born. He always wanted a daughter.” Although Shiloh is Pitt’s first biological daughter, he became the adoptive father to Jolie’s son and daughter prior to Shiloh’s birth.
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“The reminders that he’s lost his children, is of course not easy for Brad. He loves his children and misses them. It’s very sad,” the source continued. Another source also told People: “He still loves all of his kids tremendously,” and that “this whole process has been very hard for the whole family.”
So, what happened?
Pitt, 60, and Jolie, 48, share six children from their relationship. The pair made headlines when they started an affair on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith while Pitt was still married to Jennifer Anniston in 2005. Newly anointed as the Hollywood’s power couple ‘Brangelina’, they married in Château Miraval in 2014, which they had originally leased in 2008 and bought that year.
In 2016, the pair announced they were separated and Jolie filed for divorce, which was finalised in 2019.
Shiloh isn’t the only child of the one-time power couple to distance themselves from Pitt. Vivienne, 15, is reportedly referred to in the Playbill for new musical ‘The Outsiders’ - produced by Jolie - as just “Vivienne Jolie”.
19-year-old Zahara also introduced herself as Zahara Marley Jolie in a university sorority introduction that was recorded and posted online.
Shiloh is the only one of their children to legally petition to have her name changed.
Why Shiloh has distanced herself from her father has not been definitively revealed. But it may be in relation to the headlinegrabbing accusations Jolie made against Pitt after he refused to allow her to sell her part of their Italian winery without signing an NDA.
Angelina Jolie forced to release NDAs: What might they reveal?
In 2016, Jolie wanted to sell her shares of Château Miraval but negotiations with Pitt broke down over his requirement she signed an NDA “that would have contractually prohibited her from speaking outside of court about Pitt’s physical and emotional abuse of her and their children”, she alleged.
Jolie filed a legal complaint against Pitt that described his physical and verbal abuse as the family travelled from France to California. “Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face” and “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her,” wrote the complaint. Recently, Judge Lia Martin ruled that Jolie has to provide all the NDAs related to her ownership of Château Miraval, a winery in the south of France that the pair bought in 2014.
Jolie sold her shares in the winery, but alleges that Pitt had refused to let her. In April, she filed a motion to release communications from Pitt’s legal team requiring her to sign an “expansive” NDA before being allowed to sell.
Pitt’s lawyers reacted by asking the judge to compel Jolie to submit the NDAs she’s signed in the past. Now, Jolie must release these NDAs within 60 days.
Jolie’s lawyer Paul Murphy has said they are “more than happy to turn them over.” He continues that the ruling “opens the door to discovery on all issues related to Pitt’s abuse.”