Zahara Jolie – Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt has filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court to remove Brad Pitt from her last name, court records show. The 21-year-old says she wants to be known simply as Zahara Marley Jolie, following a similar move by her sister Shiloh and
Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt didn’t wait until after graduation to take control of her name. On paper, she has now taken that step through the courts.
The 21-year-old has legally requested to remove Brad Pitt from her last name. Zahara filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court to change her name to simply Zahara Marley Jolie, according to court records.
Court filings come after years of public scrutiny of the family’s private split—when Angelina Jolie and Pitt’s relationship broke down in 2016 and their divorce proceedings were finalized in 2024. The name change request lands as Zahara is moving further into adulthood with a new legal identity. even as questions about family dynamics continue to swirl.
Zahara has already stopped using the last name of the “Bullet Train” actor in recent years. Her legal petition arrives after her younger sister Shiloh Jolie—20—legally changed her last name from Jolie-Pitt to Jolie.
A source close to Pitt said Jolie is behind Pitt’s estranged relationship with Zahara. The source added that it is sad when one parent alienates their children from the other.
Pitt, 62, and Jolie, 51, share six children: Maddox, 24; Pax, 22; Zahara, 21; Shiloh, 20; and 17-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox.
Zahara’s college milestone used the new name. After graduating from Spelman College in Atlanta on May 17 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. she was shown in a social media video walking across the stage in a black graduation cap and gown with a blue and white stole. The announcer reads her name as Zahara Marley Jolie.
She enrolled in the private historically Black college in Atlanta in 2022 and was a member of the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.
The decision connects to Jolie’s long-stated commitment to her daughter’s ties to her origins. In 2005. the “Maleficent” actress adopted Zahara Jolie from Ethiopia and has discussed her desire to ensure that her daughter maintains a connection to her roots. The pair visited Ethiopia in 2019 and met with Sahle-Work Zewde. the first woman president of Ethiopia. to discuss ways to help girls continue their schooling.
Jolie’s and Pitt’s representatives have not provided comment for this story. Brad Pitt’s and Angelina Jolie’s representatives were reached out to for comment.
For now, the court filing places a personal identity decision in the formal record—an act that may look administrative to outsiders, but carries real weight when it touches a family still defined, publicly, by separation and distance.
Zahara Jolie Brad Pitt Angelina Jolie name change petition Los Angeles Superior Court Spelman College psychology degree Alpha Kappa Alpha Jolie-Pitt
So basically she’s removing Pitt’s name bc drama? Wild.
I thought she already stopped using Pitt like years ago, so why all the court order now? Seems like publicity more than anything, but idk. Also didn’t her sister do the same thing? Same storyline.
This is sad. People keep saying one parent alienates the kids and then here it is on paper again. Like if she’s 21 and wants her own name, cool, but the internet will still act like it’s proof of something. Spelman graduation announcement reading her name like that is gonna stir up everyone.
Wait so she got a degree in psychology and then changed her last name to remove the “Bullet Train” guy? I mean I get wanting to be Zahara Marley Jolie, but the article says Pitt estranged relationship is bc Jolie is behind it?? That seems like blaming without evidence. Also the divorce wasn’t finished until 2024 so how does this connect timelines like that? Confusing.