Brad Pitt is facing another quiet but heavy chapter in the long estrangement from several of his children, according to people familiar with the family.
A source exclusively told Page Six that twin son Knox — who turned 18 with sister Vivienne in July — is preparing to legally remove “Pitt” from his surname, following a path already taken by four of his siblings. “Knox hasn’t filed anything yet, but it’s only a matter of time before he drops Pitt from his last name,” the insider said. “It’s inevitable. It’s just a question of when, and there’s no timeline for that right now. The whole situation is heartbreaking for Brad.”
If Knox follows through, he would become the fifth of Pitt, 62, and ex-wife Angelina Jolie’s six children to shed the famous last name. Reps for Angelina, Brad and Knox did not respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
The former couple’s children are Maddox, 25; Pax, 22; Zahara, 21; Shiloh, 20; and twins Knox and Vivienne. While Knox has not yet filed a court petition, he already left “Pitt” off his high school diploma after graduating from Fusion Academy in Los Angeles in June, a source previously told Page Six. He was listed as “Knox Jolie” on the certificate and celebrated the ceremony with Angelina, Pax, Zahara and Vivienne.
The latest update lands only days after Vivienne’s petition was granted. A Los Angeles judge approved her request on Monday to change her name from Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt to Vivienne Marcheline Jolie — a move she first filed on July 20, eight days after the twins’ 18th birthday. Court papers cited “personal” reasons. Vivienne had already been credited as “Vivienne Jolie” in the Broadway Playbill for The Outsiders, which she helped her mother produce.
Zahara made her change official in September, becoming Zahara Marley Jolie after walking at Spelman College under that name. Maddox likewise dropped “Pitt” in September, after being credited as Maddox Jolie on Angelina’s film Couture. Shiloh was first: she filed on her 18th birthday in May 2024 and won approval that August.
Pax remains the exception on paper and, to a degree, in family life. Sources have said he still spends time with Pitt’s side of the family — including a dinner celebrating a cousin’s engagement — even as a separate insider claimed he “doesn’t have much of a relationship with Brad” himself.
The parents’ camps continue to frame the rupture differently. One source close to Pitt has described a pattern of alienation; a source close to Jolie has pointed to years of family therapy after the events that led her to file for divorce in 2016, arguing the children’s distance reflects trust that was damaged and never fully repaired. The exes were declared legally single in 2019 and finalized their divorce in December 2024 after an eight-year fight, while a separate dispute over French winery Chateau Miraval continues.
For Pitt, the prospect of Knox joining the name-change wave is less a legal footnote than another public signal of how far the family has drifted — and how little control the Oscar winner has over the next move.
Source: Page Six
