Brad Pitt’s fractured relationship with several of his children appears to have taken another public turn, with daughter Zahara formally dropping his surname from her legal name.
Court documents filed in California show the 21-year-old petitioned to change her name to Zahara Marley Jolie—losing “Pitt” from the end—becoming the latest of Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s children to distance themselves from the actor, according to PEOPLE Magazine.
The filing comes shortly after her older brother, Maddox, also filed to legally change his surname.
Two other siblings, Shiloh and Vivienne, have also publicly abandoned the Pitt surname.
The former couple share six children: Maddox, 24; Pax, 22; Zahara, 21; Shiloh, 19; and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17.
The latest development underscores the lingering fallout from Pitt and Jolie’s highly publicized split, which began in 2016 and culminated in a divorce settlement nearly eight years later.
The eight-year court dispute saw the couple fight over custody, assets, and allegations from Jolie that Pitt physically assaulted her and two of their children during a private flight. Pitt called those allegations “completely untrue.”
Since the breakup, Pitt has faced an increasingly distant relationship with several of his children.
Alongside Zahara, siblings Maddox, Vivienne and Shiloh have all stopped using “Pitt,” with Shiloh formally petitioning to remove it from her legal name after turning 18 in 2024.
Signs that Zahara was moving in the same direction had emerged well before her latest court filing.
During her graduation ceremony in Atlanta in May, the commencement program listed her as “Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt,” but she was announced as “Zahara Marley Jolie” when she received her psychology degree.
She had previously introduced herself without the Pitt surname during her 2023 induction into Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and at another public event earlier this year.
Her siblings have taken similar steps. Maddox was credited as “Maddox Jolie” in the 2025 film Couture, while Vivienne appeared as “Vivienne Jolie” in materials for the Broadway production The Outsiders.
Pitt has not publicly commented on Zahara’s name change, but a source close to the actor told People Magazine: “It’s sad to see someone repeatedly publicize their successful alienation of their children from the other parent.”
The Daily Beast has contacted representatives of Pitt for comment.
In July 2024, a source told PEOPLE that Pitt has “virtually no contact” with his adult children, adding that Jolie has custody of the children “most of the time,” while he retains visitation rights with the younger ones under their agreement.
