Maddox Jolie-Pitt has quietly but publicly abandoned her father Brad Pitt’s last name, appearing in the credits of her mother Angelina Jolie’s latest film simply as Jolie.
The 24-year-old worked as an assistant director at Haute Couturea new drama starring Jolie as Maxine Walker, a woman diagnosed with breast cancer whose life intersects with two others during Paris Fashion Week.
When the Alice Winocour-directed film opened in French cinemas on Wednesday, Maddox’s credits listed only her mother’s name.
It marks a notable change from 2024, when he was credited as Maddox Jolie-Pitt in his executive producer role on Mariathe film in which Jolie played the late opera singer Maria Callas.
It is not the first time that one of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s children has done something like this.
Zahara, 21, left “Pitt” out of her name during Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s induction ceremony at Spelman College in Atlanta in 2023, referring to herself as Zahara Marley Jolie.
And in 2024, 19-year-old Shiloh was listed as “Shiloh Jolie” on the poster for the Broadway production of The strangers, a work he helped his mother produce.
That particular decision hit Pitt hard, according to a source who spoke with PEOPLE At the moment.
“He is aware and upset that Shiloh gave up her last name. He never felt more joy than when she was born. He always wanted a daughter,” the source said.
“Of course, it’s not easy for Brad to remember that he has lost his children. 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 hard on the entire family.”
The backdrop to all of this is one of Hollywood’s longest and most acrimonious splits.
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 those legal issues resolved, the personal distance between Pitt and his children appears to persist.
A source shared last year that the actor remains estranged from most of them, despite several attempts to reconnect.
