Another Jolie-Pitt Child Drops Their Father’s Surname

Vivienne Jolie-Pitt has seemingly dropped her father, Brad Pitt’s last name, and has now chosen to only use “Jolie” from her mother, Angelina Jolie.

The change was noticed in the playbill for “The Outsiders,” but it’s not clear if it’s official. The surname drop comes after years of a strained relationship between Pitt and his kids amid his divorce from Jolie.

Vivienne’s name change comes after her elder sister, Zahara, also chose to stop using her father’s name.

According to People magazine, Jolie and Pitt’s daughter, Vivienne’s name change was noticed in the playbill for her mother’s musical and production debut, “The Outsiders.”

In it, the 15-year-old is listed as “Vivienne Jolie,” which would have previously been “Vivienne Jolie-Pitt.”

Despite the change in the playbill, it’s not confirmed if Vivienne has legally changed her surname. The teenager is the latest of Jolie and Pitt’s six children to switch to using only their mother’s name as a surname in recent years.

The former couple’s eldest daughter, Zahara, also uses only “Jolie” for her surname. In a viral video of Zahara joining the Mu Pi chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Spelman College last year, she introduced herself as “Zahara Marley Jolie.”

The playbill for “The Outsiders” lists Vivienne as a producer assistant and mentions her in Jolie’s bio. It reads, “Angelina is thrilled to be working on her first theatrical producing venture alongside her daughter, Vivienne, who is a theatre student and supporter of the arts.”

Jolie announced that she was producing “The Outsiders” last year and has credited Vivienne as her inspiration for the project.

When the musical had its opening night in April 2024, the “Salt” actress had high praise for her daughter.

She said, “She saw an early workshop a few times and then invited me to it. Viv is a young artist who focuses her efforts on her support of others. She has been there to assist in any way she can and has learned so much from [score and co-book writer] Justin Levine and the whole creative team.”

Given the years of strain in their relationship with Pitt, Vivienne and Zahara’s decision to change their surname isn’t a surprise.

The strained relationship between Pitt and his kids has been noted since Jolie filed for divorce and requested sole physical custody of all six kids in 2016.

Pitt has since tried to reconcile with his kids, but progress is reportedly slow. In August 2022, a source close to the “Babylon” actor told People that he was working on having a better relationship with the kids.

The source said, “It’s been a sad situation for years. Since Angelina filed for divorce, Brad has been focused on having the best relationship possible with his kids. It’s been very difficult for him. Many times, there have been long gaps where he didn’t see the kids at all.”

The insider explained that Pitt often “misses the kids” during the stretch of time when he has no contact with them. They added, “He believes there will be a time when he has a great relationship with his kids again.”

As Vivienne joins the list of kids removing “Pitt” from their surname, there are reports that Jolie is a driving force behind the tense parental relationship.

A security guard who used to work for the former couple and is currently working for Pitt has claimed that the actress encouraged the kids to “avoid” their father.

The guard’s claims were included in court documents obtained by People. Pitt and Jolie are currently in court over their French winery, Château Miraval.

The actress recently claimed that Pitt refused to buy her shares in the winery unless she agreed to a new and “more onerous” NDA. According to a motion previously filed by Jolie’s lawyers, Pitt wanted his ex-wife to sign the NDA to protect himself and certain information.

The “Eternals” actress’ lawyers claim that Pitt is worried that sealed documents from their previous custody battle could become public without the NDA.

The ex-couple has been locked in a legal battle over their formerly joint-ran French winery since Pitt accused Jolie of betraying him by selling her $64 million stakes to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler in 2021.

In a recent Los Angeles Superior Court ruling, Judge Lia Martin called on the actress to “produce, within 60 calendar days of this Order, all non-privileged documents in her possession, custody or control that are responsive to” Pitt’s requests in a previously filed action.

A source close to the actress has now claimed that the “Fight Club” actor is using the court case to get back at her after a judge ordered Jolie to produce eight years’ worth of NDAs.

The source shared that Pitt “and his team know that these NDAs are never going to see the light of day at trial,” adding that their whole antics “is all for the press.”

“They also know that this will force Angelina to spend resources tracking all of this information down, which is just another way to drain her resources and punish her for leaving,” the insider told People.