Why have Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s kids dropped ‘Pitt’ from their surname?

At just 15 years old, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Vivienne is already making a name for herself.

The teenager has appeared on the playbill for new Broadway musical ‘The Outsiders’, as an assistant to the producer, who happens to be her mum.

But rather than admire the kid’s work ethic for contributing to such a big project, people have been focused on what she’s chosen to call herself.

The programme for the play reportedly lists her as “Vivienne Jolie”, instead of “Vivienne Jolie-Pitt”, in an apparent snub of her father.

And, interestingly, this isn’t the first time one of Pitt’s children has ditched his surname from their own. So what’s going on?

Jolie, 48, and Pitt, 60, once the most glamorous couple in Hollywood, have spent the past eight years locked in an acrimonious legal battle.

The Tomb Raider star filed for divorce from the heartthrob in 2016 after alleging that he assaulted her on a private jet flight from France to LA.

Pitt denied the allegations and, following an FBI investigation, no charges were filed.

However, since then, rumours of the 60-year-old’s fraught relationship with the six children he shares with his ex have been widely circulated. The former couple have six kids: Maddox, 22; Pax, 20; Zahara, 19; Shiloh, 17; and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15.

From left: Knox, Jolie, Vivienne, Pax, Shiloh, Zahara and Maddox, back in 2019 – the year of Jolie's divorce from Pitt(Getty Images)

Speculation surrounding the family ties was furiously fuelled when, on Father’s Day in 2020, Pax shared a furious tirade against his estranged dad.

In the private Instagram post, Pitt’s adopted son wrote: “Happy Father’s Day to this world class a**hole!! You time and time again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person.

“You have no consideration or empathy toward your four youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence.

“You will never understand the damage you have done to my family because you are incapable of doing so. You have made the lives of those closest to me a constant hell.

“You may tell yourself and the world whatever you want, but the truth will come to light someday. So, Happy Father’s Day, you f***ing awful human being!!!”

Then, last year, Pitt and Jolie’s eldest adopted daughter Zahara, introduced herself as “Zahara Marley Jolie” when joining a sorority at Spelman College in Atlanta, The Times reports.

Meanwhile, Shiloh’s Instagram page refers to her simply as “Shiloh Jolie”.

Pitt has denied assaulting Jolie or their children, after the 48-year-old alleged in a court filing that during a flight in 2016 he grabbed her by the head, choked one of their children and struck another when they tried to defend her.

Brad Pitt dedicated his 2020 Academy Award to his children(Getty Images)

Indeed, the 60-year-old even dedicated his Oscar for best supporting actor in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, to his brood.

“This is for my kids who colour everything I do,” he gushed. “I adore you.”

It isn’t clear whether Vivienne, or any of the other children, have legally changed their names.

And whilst Pitt and Jolie’s divorce was finalised in 2019, the pair have been locked in a legal fight over the ownership of Château Miraval – a vineyard in Provence which was also once their family home.

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings