Angelina Jolie's Son Maddox Made A Legal Move To Further Distance Himself From Brad Pitt

The following article includes allegations of domestic abuse.

Maddox Jolie, the oldest child of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, has officially changed his name, removing his adoptive father's surname and going only by his mother's maiden name. According to TMZ, Maddox filed the legal paperwork in May 2026 to change his name, but he had already dropped "Pitt" in his professional work. While he was credited as Maddox Jolie-Pitt when he worked as a production assistant on the 2024 Netflix drama "Maria," which starred his mom, when he was a third assistant director on 2025's "Couture," which also starred his mom, he was reportedly billed as Maddox Jolie. All this suggests that Maddox has been working on the change for a while, but only decided in 2026 to make it legit.

In losing "Pitt" from his name, Maddox joins three of his siblings in distancing themselves from Brad. Shiloh Jolie legally changed her name just after her 18th birthday in 2024. While it doesn't appear that she has made the legal shift, Zahara Jolie first showed up sans Pitt in 2023 when she joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and appeared to confirm her choice when she graduated from Spelman College in 2026. And Vivienne Jolie first debuted her shorter name on Broadway when, at just 15, she produced "The Outsiders" with her mother. All together, that makes four of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's six children who have taken active measures to break away from their father.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were together for a little over a decade, meeting in 2003 on the set of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," a year after Jolie adopted Maddox. At the time, Jolie had just divorced Billy Bob Thornton and Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston. It was while making the movie that Pitt and Jolie fell in love, and by 2005, the "F1" star seemingly left Aniston for his co-star. Not long after, Jolie adopted Zahara and then gave birth to her and Pitt's biological daughter, Shiloh. Pax joined the family in 2007, and in 2008 Jolie gave birth to twins Knox and Vivienne. At the time, Jolie claimed she and Pitt had intentions to keep growing their family, telling the New York Times, "I mean, I know we seem crazy, just bringing them in one after the other, but we do plan. ... our family is the greatest thing we've done in our lives." In 2014, they made things official by getting married. From the outside, all seemed perfect, but the reality was apparently quite different.

Two years after they married, Jolie filed for divorce and requested custody of the couple's six children. From there, and over the course of almost a decade, Jolie and Pitt's messy divorce would slowly reveal the tragic details. As the proceedings trudged along, Jolie painted a dark picture of their marriage when she claimed Pitt became verbally and physically abusive toward her and their children while on a flight. Pitt denied the accusations, but he entered a 12-step program shortly after the incident, telling the New York Times, "I had taken things as far as I could take it, so I removed my drinking privileges."

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.