Angelina Jolie has achieved a "complete cutting of ties" with her ex-husband Brad Pitt, according to a family law expert, as their youngest children, twins Vivienne and Knox, turned 18 on July 12.
This milestone effectively severs the last legal thread connecting Jolie and Pitt, allowing Jolie to make decisions regarding their children that previously required court oversight. Family law expert Holly Davis, co-founder of Kirker Davis LLP, explained that Jolie was unable to secure this outcome during their 2016 divorce proceedings and had to wait for the children to reach adulthood.
"Because she was unable to achieve this result in the parties' divorce, she had to wait until the youngest children were 18 to be able to do the things that the court would not allow her to do," Davis told Fox News Digital. The expert noted that the reasons behind the children's estrangement from Pitt remain unclear from an outside perspective.
Vivienne Jolie-Pitt recently filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court to legally remove "Pitt" from her last name, seeking to be known as Vivienne Marcheline Jolie. The petition cites "personal" reasons, and a hearing is scheduled for November 2.
Prior to this, Vivienne had worked as a producer assistant on the Broadway musical "The Outsiders" with her mother, credited as "Vivienne Jolie." This follows a trend among Pitt and Jolie's children, with at least four others reportedly having made moves to drop the surname "Pitt." Zahara filed to formally remove "Pitt" in June, and Shiloh's name change was noted in 2024. Maddox also reportedly filed a petition in May.
Experts are divided on the potential impact of these developments on Pitt's public image. Entertainment attorney Tre Lovell suggested that Pitt's established global stardom means the situation may not significantly damage his brand. "He’s such a universally well-known star, and his divorce with Angelina Jolie and strained relationship with his kids have been well publicized," Lovell said. "Most of the public would chalk it up to an unfortunate problem with the relationship with his kids, but as far as his brand, it’s still strong and would survive any type of criticism in this area."
However, crisis communications expert Kaivan Shroff argued that the repeated public actions of his children could shape Pitt's legacy. "This isn’t about a single family decision…it’s about accumulation," Shroff stated. "One child dropping a famous last name might be dismissed as an isolated event. When it happens repeatedly across multiple adult children, it stops looking like celebrity gossip and starts becoming part of a public figure’s legacy."
Conversely, entertainment attorney Jordan Matthews posited that the public might find Pitt sympathetic. "One of the primary things that parents should focus on in a divorce is the well-being of the child, and that often means striving for the child to have a healthy relationship with both parents," Matthews said, adding that the decision to drop the surname is "highly personal" and could lead to public sympathy for Pitt.