Much has been said about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s since-settled divorce in recent years, but there’s another component of the drama that’s also been discussed. Rumors have been swirling around the state of Pitt’s relationship with the kids he and Jolie share. It’s been alleged that the perennial leading man has had minimal contact with his children as of late and that the kids have sought to distance themselves from him. Now, after another one of Pitt’s kids drops his last name, an insider shares his purported feelings and fears.
It was reported this past week that Maddox Jolie-Pitt (24) formally filed to have his father’s last name removed. Ahead of this filing, Maddox was credited as “Maddox Jolie” in his mother’s film, Couture, on which he reportedly worked as an assistant director. Jolie (50) adopted Maddox before she and Pitt (62) became romantically involved but, in time, the Adventures of Cliff Booth star legally became the young man’s father. Should this name change filing go through, Jolie and Pitt’s son will be known as Maddox Chivan Jolie.
An insider spoke to Us Weekly after news of the filing broke and, if the person is to be believed, Brad Pitt is distraught over where he stands with his kids right now. With that, the source made allegations about Pitt’s “biggest fear” pertaining to his brood:
[Brad’s] biggest fear is to be permanently disconnected from the kids because he does want to find a way to make things right. His biggest fear is that too much time is going by and the more time without something happening, the harder it will be to reconcile.
Ahead of Maddox Jolie-Pitt’s reported decision to drop his father’s surname, his sister, Shiloh (20), filed to do the same thing back in May 2024. That move coincided with Shiloh’s 18th birthday and, a few months later, she was granted her request to be known as Shiloh Nouvel Jolie. It also recently seemed that their sister, Zahara (21), removed their father’s name as well, as she was referred to as “Zahara Marley Jolie” at her recent graduation from Spelman College, even though she was referred to as Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt in the ceremony’s program. Meanwhile, sister Vivienne (17) didn’t use “Pitt” when being credited in the playbill for The Outsiders.
Those reports of name changes came a few years after Angelina Jolie leveled allegations against Brad Pitt. Jolie claimed Pitt physically and verbally abused her and the children when they were on a flight in 2016. Since then, Pitt has denied the accusations via his legal team. In the aftermath of Pitt’s divorce with Jolie, the source alleges that his kids’ decisions not to carry his last name serves as a sticking point. They said:
He feels most hurt out of everything that happened with Angie that his children don’t want a public association with his last name. It’s been very difficult.
Pitt notably made headlines for not attending Zahara’s sorority induction or her recent graduation, with sources alleging that nothing stopped him from going to the latter. However, a source from Pitt’s camp claimed the actor was displeased with the “estrangement” narrative being propped up when it was allegedly made clear to him that he “would not be welcome.” It was previously alleged in 2022 that the Oscar winner had a “pretty good” relationship with his kids, but times have purportedly changed:
[Brad] still does hope and keeps the door open to eventual reconciliation, hopefully with all of them, but it is their decision. He has no power and he can’t force them.
That claim aligns with a previous report and, at that time, a source alleged that Brad Pitt was “desperate” to reconcile with his kids. Like this latest report, though, that information should be taken with a grain of salt. As for right now, it’s unclear as to how long it’ll take for Maddox’s name request to be granted.
