Angelina Jolie’s daughter, Zahara, is taking legal steps to officially drop her father Brad Pitt’s surname.
According to documents obtained by TMZ, Zahara has filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court requesting her name be legally changed to Zahara Marley Jolie.
At 21, Zahara has distanced herself from the Pitt surname for quite some time. Notably, when she joined a sorority at Spelman College three years ago, she did not use her father’s last name.
Insiders have suggested that Pitt believes Jolie may be influencing their children’s decisions regarding their relationship with him.
Jolie and Pitt, who were parents to six children together, have been separated since Jolie filed for divorce in 2016.
In addition to Zahara, siblings Shiloh, Maddox, and Vivienne have also opted not to use the Pitt surname. It’s unclear whether Pax has followed suit.
Angelina Jolie’s daughter Zahara is making legal moves to remove Pitt from her last name. Seen in 2025
TMZ obtained a petition 21-year-old Zahara filed in LA Superior Court, in which she asked for her new legal name to be Zahara Marley Jolie; she put on a stunning display in a slinky brown dress when she was spotted with a friend in LA on Tuesday
In May, Zahara did not use the name Pitt when graduating from Spelman College. Jolie was at the ceremony.
After meeting on the set of the 2005 film Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Brad and Angelina were seen as Hollywood’s ‘It’ couple during their long-term relationship.
They tied the knot in August 2014 during a secret ceremony in the South of France, and welcomed three children together during their romance – Shiloh in 2006, and twins Vivienne and Knox in 2008.
They also adopted two more, Zahara, and Pax, and Pitt legally adopted the son that Angelina had adopted before they got together, Maddox.
But in 2016, it came to an explosive end after the pair got into an alleged physical altercation while on a private flight with their six kids.
Jolie later claimed that Pitt ‘choked’ one of the children during the horrifying dispute and ‘struck’ another in the face, leaving her and the kids feeling like ‘hostages’ and cowering in fear under a blanket for hours until they landed.
She also alleged that he grabbed her by the head, slammed her against a wall, and violently shook her at one point during the flight – which resulted in her injuring her back and elbow.
Brad’s rep called Angelina’s account ‘completely untrue’ to CNN at first, but then released an amended statement to the publication that read, ‘Angelina’s story continues to evolve each time she tells it.
Brad Pitt, Jolie and their six children are pictured in Tokyo in 2011
Jolie, Pitt, Zahara, and Maddox pictured 2006
Zahara and her mother Angelina pictured together in 2025
Jolie, Pitt and Zahara pictured in 2014
Pitt and girlfriend Ines de Ramon attend the women’s final on day 14 of the 2026 French Open, Roland-Garros 2026 on June 6 in Paris
‘Brad has accepted responsibility for what he did but will not for things he didn’t do. He has been on the receiving end of every type of personal attack and misrepresentation.
‘Thankfully, the various public authorities she has tried to use against him over the past six years have made their own independent decisions. Brad will continue to respond in court as he has consistently done.’
Since they split, the two stars have been embroiled in one of the most publicized legal battles in Hollywood history over custody of their children, as well as the winery that they once owned together.
In May 2021, after years of duking it out in court, Brad and Angelina were officially granted joint custody of their six kids, but one month later, the judge’s decision was thrown out.
