Zahara Jolie Seeks to Legally Drop Father Brad Pitt's Surname

Zahara Jolie, one of the children of actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, has begun the legal process to officially drop her father's surname. The 19-year-old filed a petition with the Los Angeles Superior Court to have her legal name recognized as Zahara Marley Jolie, effectively removing "Pitt" from her full name.

While the specific reasons for the petition were not detailed in the court documents obtained by TMZ, the decision aligns with Zahara's long-standing public practice of using only her mother's surname. Reports suggest that communication between Zahara and her father has been minimal for several years.

The move comes shortly after Zahara's university graduation, an event that Brad Pitt reportedly did not attend and was not invited to. Sources close to the actor have suggested that the growing distance between Pitt and several of his children is influenced by Angelina Jolie, stemming from the couple's contentious separation and subsequent custody battles that began in 2016.

Zahara is not the first of Pitt and Jolie's children to distance themselves from their father's name. Shiloh, Vivienne, and Maddox have also publicly omitted the "Pitt" surname in recent years. This pattern of estrangement has contributed to widespread speculation about the strained relationship between the Oscar-winning actor and a portion of his children, a situation that appears far from resolved.