Marie Claire reported last week that Shiloh, the daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, used the occasion of her eighteenth birthday on May 27 to file paperwork to legally change her name from Shiloh Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Jolie—likely indicative of ongoing strain between Shiloh and her father.
Though at least four of Jolie and Pitt’s six children have informally dropped “Pitt” from their surname, it seems Shiloh is, heretofore anyway, the only one of her siblings to take the matter to the courts—and, as Marie Claire reported on Sunday, apparently even hired her own lawyer and paid for the attorney’s services herself. (Maddox, Zahara, and Vivienne are the others who have reportedly stopped using “Pitt” in their moniker; no word on Pax or Knox.)
Pitt, according to People, is “aware and upset” that Shiloh has opted to remove his surname from hers, with a source adding that “he loves his children.” When Jolie and Pitt became a couple in 2005—controversially, if you’ll remember, as Pitt had just ended his marriage to ex-wife Jennifer Aniston—Jolie had already adopted son Maddox and daughter Zahara (which Pitt later legally adopted, as well). The couple’s biological daughter, Shiloh, was born in 2006.
“He’s never felt more joy than when she was born,” the source speaking to People said of Pitt upon the birth of Shiloh that May. “He always wanted a daughter.” Jolie and Pitt later adopted son Pax, and twins Knox and Vivienne rounded out their brood in 2008.
“The reminders that he’s lost his children is, of course, not easy for Brad,” the source continued. “He loves his children and misses them. It’s very sad.” Though they added that Pitt is “still happy with Ines [de Ramon]”—Pitt’s girlfriend—the distance from his children “pains him.”
A different source close to Pitt told People “He still loves all of his kids tremendously,” and added “This whole process has been very hard for the whole family.”
Jolie and Pitt eventually married in 2014 after nine years together; Jolie filed for divorce just two years later, in 2016, and in doing so also filed for sole physical custody of their kids. Jolie and Pitt’s divorce battle still looms eight years on, not only over custody but also over their winery, Chateau Miraval. In a recent filing relating to the winery, a former security guard for the couple—who still works for Pitt—claimed in legal documents that Jolie allegedly “encouraged” the kids to “avoid spending time” with Pitt during visits.
Paul Murphy, an attorney for Jolie, later told People that “all Angelina has ever wanted was separation and health, with positive relationships between all members of their family, including Mr. Pitt.”
Per Page Six, Jolie and Pitt were declared legally single back in 2019, but their divorce proceedings remain ongoing.
