<figure id="attachment_476577" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-476577" style="width: 1777px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="dfd79a1e"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/07/272f4aaa075e77db54e2d6a5a90d6ea0.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-476577" class="wp-caption-text">Angelina Jolie heading to the movie theater with her four children (2018)</figcaption></figure>
<h2><span class="strongInContent"> Jolie Is the Cause of the Rift Among the Children</span></h2>
<p> Vivienne (18), the youngest of Brad Pitt (62) and Angelina Jolie’s (51) three daughters, has filed a petition with the court to remove “Pitt” from her last name.</p>
<p> Their eldest daughter, Zahara, and eldest son, Maddox, have also filed similar petitions, creating an unusual situation in which all of the children are distancing themselves from the “Pitt” surname. Now that all the children are over 18, Jolie is reportedly planning to move to Cambodia.</p>
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<p> According to the U.S. website TMZ, court documents reveal that Vivian filed a petition with the Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to legally change her full name from “Vivian Marcheline Jolie-Pitt” to “Vivian Marcheline Jolie” by removing the “Pitt” surname.The name change is reportedly cited as being for “personal reasons.”</p>
<p> Vivienne and her third son, Knox (18)—who is her twin—have not yet filed a legal petition to change their names, but when he graduated from high school in June, he used the name “Knox Jolie” on his diploma. It appears to be only a matter of time before he, too, drops the “Pitt” surname.</p>
<p> Their second daughter, Shiloh, filed a similar petition in August 2024, which was granted. Additionally, their eldest son, Maddox (24), and eldest daughter, Zahara (21), have also filed petitions, and a hearing is expected to take place soon, with their requests likely to be approved.</p>
<p> A source close to Pitt told TMZ,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> “The rift between Pitt and the children is Jolie’s fault,”</span></p>
<p> . Furthermore, the source described Vivian’s petition as part of</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> “an extremely sad, never-ending campaign” (same source, a close associate)</span></p>
<p> —but it seems it’s already too late.</p>
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<p> Pitt and Jolie officially finalized their divorce in late 2024 after years of litigation, but a legal battle over the sale of shares in “Château Miraval,” a French winery they purchased during their marriage, is still ongoing.</p>
<p> The root cause of the children successively dropping the Pitt surname was the incident reported in 2016—which led Jolie to file for divorce—in which an intoxicated Pitt allegedly assaulted his eldest son, Maddox, aboard a private jet as the family was returning from London.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Brad Pitt lost custody of his children…"></div>
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<h2><span class="strongInContent">&#8220;Once I turn 18, I&#8217;ll be able to leave here.&#8221;</span></h2>
<p> In 2022, Jolie testified in a lawsuit over the sale of shares in a winery in southern France that she and Pitt jointly owned at the time of their marriage, regarding allegations that Pitt had assaulted Maddox.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> “During a long overnight flight, Pitt subjected me and our children—who were between the ages of 8 and 15 at the time—to physical and emotional abuse,”</span></p>
<p> She added,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> “After that flight, I decided to file for divorce for the sake of my family’s health and happiness,”</span></p>
<p> she claimed. U.S. media reported at the time that she also testified that Pitt had poured beer and wine on the children.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> “It was reported that Jolie and Pitt got into an argument on the plane, and that Pitt, who was intoxicated, assaulted Maddox after he sided with Jolie.”Pitt’s attorney denied the allegations, calling them ‘personal attacks and false statements.’ The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services launched an investigation into child abuse and other matters, but Pitt was not held legally responsible.The FBI also conducted an investigation, but as reported by the U.S. magazine *US Weekly* at the time, it was closed in November 2016. “However, there is no doubt that that incident was the cause of the breakdown of Pitt and Jolie’s family,” said a Hollywood insider.</span></p>
<p> It was also reported that Pitt attempted to repair his relationship with Jolie and the children—including by attending counseling to overcome his alcohol addiction—but he was unable to sway Jolie’s resolve to divorce or her intention to keep the children away from him.</p>
<p> Amid this situation, according to the U.S. website “realtor.com,” now that the twins, Vivienne and Knox, have turned 18, Jolie has gained the freedom to leave Los Angeles and is moving forward with plans to relocate to Cambodia, the homeland of Maddox, as she had long discussed.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> “In many U.S. states, once a child turns 18, the parental rights established by a divorce agreement cease, and the child becomes able to manage their own assets and make their own decisions regarding residence, name changes, and other matters.Now that the youngest twins have turned 18, the custody agreements Jolie and Pitt made at the time of their divorce—including provisions such as ‘not moving abroad’ and ‘visitation rights with the children’—have come to an end, meaning Jolie and the children’s ‘separation from Pitt’ is now legally complete,” said the aforementioned Hollywood insider.</span></p>
<p> Jolie previously told *The Hollywood Reporter* that she wanted to leave the U.S., stating,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> “I’m here (in Los Angeles) because the terms of the divorce require me to be here. But once the twins turn 18, I’ll be able to leave,”</span></p>
<p> she said.</p>
<p> Now that Pitt no longer has custody and she is free to do as she pleases, she has revealed her hope to spend more time in Cambodia—the birthplace of her adopted eldest son, Maddox, and a country where she has owned a home for many years.</p>
<p> She also produced and directed the 2017 film *First They Killed My Father*, based on the memoir of the same name by Loung Ung, a survivor of the genocide during Cambodia’s Pol Pot dictatorship, and involved Maddox in the production.Her past service as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and her long-standing commitment to humanitarian aid and charitable work are also believed to be factors in her plan to move to Cambodia.</p>
<p> In any case, now that Jolie is legally free from Pitt, what new horizons will she explore as an actress and director?Attention is also focused on the future endeavors of her children: eldest son Maddox, who has served as an assistant director on Jolie’s films; Shiloh, who works as a dancer and choreographer; Knox, who has made his debut as a martial artist; and Vivienne, who served as an assistant producer on a Broadway production produced by Jolie.</p>
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 Ryo Sakamoto (Formerly of the Culture and Society Department, Tokyo Sports Newspaper)

 Backgrid/Aflo

 Although Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s divorce has already been finalized, it seems their “dispute” is still ongoing. Amid this, attention across the U.S. is focused on the decisions made by their children…

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Youngest Child Also Drops the “Pitt” Surname; Behind All Their Children “Leaving the Pitt Name” Lies a “Plan to Move to Cambodia”

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s Youngest Child Also Drops the “Pitt” Surname; Behind All Their Children “Leaving the Pitt Name” Lies a “Plan to Move to Cambodia”

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