In the days running up to her 18th birthday, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt wasn’t just planning celebrations with her friends and family, she was also preparing some paperwork which would change the shape of her life forever. The dancer and actor, whose full name is Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, was getting ready to submit a petition to a Los Angeles court to drop Pitt from her name, after contemplating the change for some time, according to insiders. 

The daughter of Hollywood stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt took the shock legal action to become simply ‘Shiloh Jolie’ on May 27, the very date she turned 18, becoming the latest of the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star’s six children to officially distance themselves from their father.

Shiloh follows in the footsteps of her sister Zahara, and brothers Pax and Maddox, who have also already reportedly dropped the ‘Pitt’ from their double-barreled names, amidst reports of strained relationships between the children and their father since Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Brad Pitt in September 2016. While details of their divorce have still not been finalised, seven long years on, and a settlement agreement is yet to be reached, in that time the children have grown up a lot, with just two of them under the age of 18 (15-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox). 

It was even reported last month that Vivienne has dropped the Pitt from her name. The teenager has been credited simply as ‘Vivienne Jolie’ for the Broadway show, The Outsiders in the programme for the musical, on which she has been working as her producer mother’s assistant. It is not immediately clear if she has actually legally changed her name or just wants to be known by her mother’s name for now. 

The actress and humanitarian has opened up about what she says is the traumatic impact that Pitt’s alleged abusive behaviour has had on her, and therefore their family, during the course of their two year marriage (they were together for twelve years in total). In 2021, when asked if she had ever feared for the safety of her children when with Pitt, she replied, ‘Yes, for my family. My whole family.’ Pitt has denied her claims. 

The first concerns about what was going on behind closed doors between the couple who had become known as ‘Brangelina’, Hollywood’s formerly golden couple, came in September 2016 when it emerged that Jolie had filed court documents which sparked an investigation by the FBI into Pitt.

The now infamous private jet journey from France to Los Angeles has been picked over many times in various legal documents since, first when Jolie filed the court documents against her former husband (although the FBI dropped the investigation and did not press any charges).

In those papers Jolie, 49, claimed Pitt, 60, had been violent in front of and to her children, and was drinking (Pitt is now sober after seeking help). It was reported that Jolie – named only as AJ – detailed in her legal filing that she had been taken to the back of the plane by Pitt, where he grabbed her by the head and shoulders and shook her while yelling, ‘You’re f—ing up this family.’ Pitt also allegedly punched the ceiling of the plane four times. Per the report, when Jolie opened the door, two of her children, whose names are redacted, were ‘outside the door and crying and asked, “Are you okay mommy?”. Pitt, who Jolie suspected was inebriated, allegedly yelled, ‘No, mommy’s not okay. She’s ruining this family.’ He also allegedly poured beer on Jolie while she was under a blanket with the kids.

This was, until recently, thought to be something of an isolated incident which had pushed Jolie to seek a shock separation, but more troubling details have emerged in ensuing legal papers which have been filed as part of the former couple’s legal battle over Chateau Miraval. 

The case, which has now been dragging on for almost three years, is about Jolie’s decision to sell her part of the French vineyard to Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler without telling Pitt, in 2021. Various filings have brought up details of what Jolie has described as Pitt’s emotional and physical abuse. In papers filed last month, Jolie’s attorneys detailed, ‘Pitt’s history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family’s plane trip from France to Los Angeles [in 2016],’ although they add that ‘this flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well.’

Those court papers claimed that Jolie has evidence of ‘Pitt’s history of physical abuse of the family and abuse of Jolie’ and claims the children continue to experience ‘significant and ongoing post-traumatic stress’. Indeed an Instagram story thought to have been posted by the couple’s son Pax, 16, said the Hollywood star made his four youngest children ‘tremble in fear’ and made the lives of those closest to Pax ‘a constant hell’, according to a screengrab revealed in November last year. 

Attorneys for Jolie have referred to a ‘history of abuse, control and cover-ups’ and claim she has ‘testimony, emails, photographs, and other evidence’ which, they say, will show how Pitt tried to conceal his behaviour if they come to trial. The actor’s denials of physical abuse are described in the court documents as ‘gaslighting’. 

Jolie has claimed in previous court documents that Pitt has been exerting ‘coercive’ financial control over her via their dispute over the Miraval wine-making business as their divorce has dragged on. Pitt, meanwhile, has denied all allegations of physical abuse and was not charged following an FBI probe into the incident on the flight.

Grazia’s source says that this move by his children to distance themselves from his name will come as a blow. ‘Brad has been unequivocal that he loves his kids with all his heart, his door is open to them 24/7 and it’s been his biggest hope that the longer time went on the greater the chance of them wanting to spend more time with him,’ said the insider. ‘That’s why this stings so badly.’

The children’s decision of course has parallels with Angelina’s own decision to drop her father, Jon Voight’s surname, to be known by her middle name, Jolie, in 2002. She had an on-off relationship with the actor, and even made a statement in 2001 about their troubles, saying, ‘I will only say that, like every child, Jamie [Jolie’s brother] and I would have loved to have had a warm and loving relationship with our dad.’

Now, history appears to be repeating itself, as Jolie’s children stand by her in the seventh year of gruelling legal battles – not to mention rising legal costs. Said the source, ‘Angelina has such a tight bond with all of her kids – it’s unbreakable, and they’ve been her rocks through this terribly difficult time.’