Zahara Marley Jolie has had a significant year of milestones. Celebrating her 21st birthday in January, she graduated from college in May, and recently filed a formal request to change her last name from her father’s. According to court documents, she applied to legally become Zahara Marley Jolie on June 5. Her 24-year-old brother also submitted a name change application to Maddox Chivan Jolie just four days prior. In 2024, their younger sibling Shiloh had already removed Pitt from her name.
The decision to shed Pitt’s surname adds another layer to the ongoing public interest in the Jolie-Pitt family dynamics. The high-profile couple, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, attracted attention from the start of their relationship in 2005 and even more so during their contentious separation in 2016. Following an eight-year divorce settlement process, Jolie accused Pitt of physical aggression towards her and their children, claims which Pitt’s representative denied. The FBI reviewed the allegations without pursuing further investigation.
In a custody agreement reached in November 2016, Jolie was granted sole custody of their six children, aged eight to 15 at the time, with provisions for therapeutic visits with Pitt. Pitt openly acknowledged his struggles with alcohol and his sobriety journey since 2016, crediting Alcoholics Anonymous for his recovery spanning nearly a decade.
Despite Pitt’s efforts to maintain sobriety, his relationship with his children remains strained. He has not been publicly seen or photographed with them for an extended period, in contrast to Jolie, who frequently accompanies her children to red carpet events and discusses them openly in the media.
Attempts to obtain a comment from Pitt’s representatives by CBC News have not yielded a response.
