Two more of Brad Pitt’s kids want to ditch his surname

From left, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Knox Jolie-Pitt, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, and Zahara Jolie-Pitt arrive at the premiere of "Eternals" on Monday, Oct. 18. 2021, in Los Angeles. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Two more of Brad Pitt’s children have applied to legally drop his surname.

The star’s daughter Zahara, 21, and son Maddox, 24, are both seeking to remove Pitt from their legal names, according to court documents filed in California. They cited personal reasons for requesting the change.

This is the latest development in the high-profile breakdown of Pitt’s marriage to fellow A-lister Angelina Jolie. The former Hollywood power couple have been locked in disputes since they split a decade ago. They finally settled their divorce at the end of 2024 but continue to be embroiled in a legal battle over Château Miraval, the French winery they formerly owned together.

In paperwork submitted electronically to the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles last month, the actors’ daughter applied to change her name from Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt to Zahara Marley Jolie. Her brother Maddox also asked the court for permission to remove Pitt from his double-barreled family name at the end of May.

As required by law, the siblings subsequently both placed ads in the Los Angeles Daily Journal once a week for four consecutive weeks in June and July, giving anyone who objects to the possible change a chance to register their objection. If nobody does, a judge is likely to rule on the change to Maddox’s name in mid-September, while his sister’s case will be decided at the end of the month.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Pitt. Representatives could not be located for Zahara or Maddox.

Jolie and Pitt married in 2014 and filed for divorce in 2016. They share six children — Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh and twins Knox and Vivienne.

In September 2016, the family flew to the United States from France on a private jet. In August 2022, details surrounding the circumstances of an incident during the flight emerged, when a heavily redacted FBI report, provided to CNN by a source at the time, revealed Jolie had accused Pitt of physically assaulting her and verbally abusing their children while they were onboard.

Pitt became the centre of a probe related to the incident but was never arrested or charged, according to an FBI statement at the time.

Jolie filed for divorce shortly after the 2016 incident.

In an October 2022 countersuit to a legal case involving their winery, Jolie alleged that Pitt “choked one of the children and struck another in the face” during the incident. In response, a representative for Pitt told CNN in a statement at the time that, “Brad has accepted responsibility for what he did but will not for things he didn’t do.”

Jolie, who had previously used the double-barreled surname, dropped Pitt from her name in 2019 after a court formally dissolved the marriage. Their daughter Vivienne reportedly used the name Vivienne Jolie in the playbill for “The Outsiders,” the Tony-winning musical she helped produce with her mom in 2024. The same year, Shiloh filed a petition to legally drop Pitt from her surname.