Two of Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie's Kids Take Out Newspaper Ads to Drop His Name

Brad's estrangement from his kids just escalated in a very public way. Our Melissa McCarty has those details. They are just the latest pits asking a judge to drop Brad's last name. Maddox adopted by Angelina in Cambodia in 2002 and Zahara adopted by Angelina in Ethiopia in 2006. Now publicly saying they want to cut ties with their famous father. Brad co-adopted both of them after he started dating Angelina. It's a move already taken by sister Shiloh in 2024. Another sister Vivian has also stopped using Brad's last name in recent years. Just the latest domino to fall in this saga that has unfortunately been tearing this family apart now for the better part of a decade. TMZ executive producer Michael Babcock says Maddox and Zahara each took out a newspaper ad over four weeks to announce their plans. It is actually a requirement in California. You must publicize your intent to change your name and ask essentially if there is anybody who objects out there. Unclear why they chose right now to do it. I mean the reality is that you know once they were 18 this was a step that they could have taken. All of us go through something in life. All of us are being challenged in one way or another and all of us have choices to make. That was Angelina with Extra just days ago talking about her new movie playing a filmmaker diagnosed with cancer. A lot of the story is how we accept that news, how we talk to our family. Maddox is credited as Maddox Jolie, an assistant director on the film. But the family drama involving Angelina and Brad's children has been playing out since 2016. Brad allegedly became abusive toward Angelina and their children on board this private jet. Pitt has denied the allegations. Months before Brad told us. The kids, yeah, the kids, everything. Angelina filed for divorce just days after the incident on the plane. She just opened up about her love life in a rare interview. I haven't dated since I divorced a decade ago, right? Brad has been dating jewelry designer Ines de Ramon since 2022. As for the news about Maddox and Zahara, Brad's rep couldn't be reached for comment but. When you talk to people who know them or know the situation, clearly Brad's devastated over this. And I think there is probably immense and profound sadness on his part over this situation. Maddox and Zahara will appear before a judge in separate hearings in September to legally change their names.