Maddox Jolie-Pitt has quietly but publicly dropped her father Brad Pitt’s last name, appearing in the credits of her mother Angelina Jolie’s latest film simply as Maddox Jolie.
The 24-year-old worked as an assistant director on Sewinga new drama starring Jolie as Maxine Walker, a woman with breast cancer whose lives intersect with those of two others during Paris Fashion Week.
When the film directed by Alice Winocour was released in French cinemas on Wednesday, Maddox’s credits only mentioned his mother’s name.
This marks a notable change from 2024, when he was credited as Maddox Jolie-Pitt in his executive producer role on Marriedthe film in which Jolie plays the late opera singer Maria Callas.
This is not the first time that one of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s children has taken such a step.
Zahara, 21, left “Pitt” out of her name during her Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority induction ceremony at Spelman College in Atlanta in 2023, calling herself Zahara Marley Jolie.
And in 2024, 19-year-old Shiloh was listed as “Shiloh Jolie” in the poster for the Broadway production of Foreigners, a play she helped her mother produce.
This particular decision hit Pitt hard, according to a source who spoke to PEOPLE at the time.
“He is aware and upset that Shiloh gave up her last name. He has never felt more joy than when she was born. He always wanted a girl,” the source said.
“Remembering that he lost his children is of course not easy for Brad. He loves his children and misses them. It’s very sad.”
The source added that Pitt “still loves all of his children very much” and that “this whole process has been very difficult for the whole family.”
The backdrop to all this is one of Hollywood’s longest and most acrimonious divisions.
Jolie, 50, filed for divorce from Pitt, 62, in 2016 and requested full custody of their six children, Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh and twins Vivienne and Knox.
The couple was declared legally single in 2019, and their divorce was finally settled in December 2024.
Despite these legal issues being settled, the personal distance between Pitt and his children appears to remain.
A source said last year that the actor remained estranged from most of them, despite several attempts to reconnect.
