Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Shiloh has revealed the “painful events” that led to her recent name change.
Shiloh, who is the third-eldest child of the former Hollywood couple, applied for a name change on her 18th birthday this year (May 27). She filed the petition at the Los Angeles County Superior Court and as per law in California, publicly announced her decision to make the name change in a legal notice in the Los Angeles Times.
According to the petition (via The Los Angeles Times), she wants to be known as Shiloh Nouvel Jolie going forwards.
It came after two of Pitt and Jolie’s other children appeared to have distanced themselves from Pitt’s name, with eldest daughter Zahara introducing herself as “Zahara Marley Jolie” in an Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority video (via Essence). Daughter Vivienne also recently dropped the name Pitt from a credit in Playbill for Broadway’s The Outsiders, according to People.
In a new statement, Shiloh’s lawyer, Peter Levine, spoke about the “significant decision” to change her name.
He said: “The media should be more careful in their reporting…especially when covering a young adult who has made an independent and significant decision following painful events, and is merely following legal process.”
He continued: “Shiloh Jolie did not take out an ‘ad’ announcing any name change, and any press reporting that is inaccurate. As Shiloh’s attorney, I am required to publish a legal notice because the law in California requires that of anyone who wants to change their name. That legal notice was published in the Los Angeles Times, as is required.”
It comes amid Pitt and Jolie’s ongoing divorce proceedings. Jolie filed for divorce in 2016 following an alleged physical altercation on a private plane, with one of their children, Maddix, allegedly involved in the incident.
Pitt was subject to a “child abuse investigation” in relation to the alleged incident, with the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services later clearing the actor of wrongdoing.
Details of the alleged altercation came to light further in 2022 after Jolie was revealed to be the plaintiff in an anonymous complaint against the FBI, which had closed an investigation into Pitt’s alleged domestic assault. Pitt has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
The former couple have also been involved in a dispute over their French winery Château Miraval, with Pitt suing Jolie in 2022 over her alleged selling of her share of the winery without his prior consent.
Jolie claims that Pitt blocked her sale of the property and would only agree if he agreed to a “more onerous” and “expansive” NDA. Jolie has previously suggested that Pitt wants her to sign an NDA to stop her speaking out about his alleged abusive behaviour towards her and her children.
Earlier this year, Jolie’s lawyers labelled Pitt’s attempts to obtain her past NDAs with third parties as “abusive”.
In April, Jolie’s lawyers claimed that Pitt was physically abusive prior to the plane incident, with a representative for Pitt declining to comment on the new abuse allegations.