Angelina Jolie’s eldest daughter, Zahara, shined a light on her special relationship with the actress, revealing how her “superhero” mother has inspired her.
Zahara, 21, made a rare comment about her and Jolie’s dynamic during a recent Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority event at Spelman College in Atlanta, noting that “it felt challenging to find the words” when she was asked to discuss the “value of mother-daughter relationships.”
“Not challenging because I don’t value it, but because my mom and I have a unique, almost kindred relationship that can be hard to put into words,” she told the room full of women in a video shared via X on Sunday, April 26.
Jolie, 50, stood on stage with Zahara as the college student detailed their bond following her adoption in 2005. (Jolie shares Zahara with ex-husband Brad Pitt, as well as kids Maddox, 24, Pax, 22, Shiloh, 19 and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17.)
“Our love for each other is a found one. I was adopted at 6 months old and given some of the most special and loving people as my siblings,” Zahara shared. “With a mom who raised us on the value of helping others, being kind and always striving for growth as people.”
Zahara, who serves as vice president of her sorority, acknowledged that “these values may sound simple, but in a world where kindness is overlooked and helping others comes at a cost, I am grateful to have had a role model show me what it looks like to be a decent human being.”
Zahara confessed, “For any daughters in the room who may know the feeling of seeing their mom as a superhero and not knowing how she does it, this is something I’ve been trying to understand my whole life.”
She went on to call the Maleficent actress “the most selfless, loving and understanding woman that I get to call my mom.”
Elsewhere in her speech, Zahara opened up about the struggles she’s faced growing up in the spotlight alongside her five siblings. She noted that when she left for college, she wasn’t sure how Jolie and her brothers and sisters would grow with her as she navigated her own path.
“With the addition of the public life that we live, it can be difficult to find those special and intimate moments without being overwhelmed with the many eyes that are on us,” Zahara said, noting, “This has never stopped my mom from being curious about all that I am learning in and outside of my classrooms at Spelman.”
Zahara added that her quest for a career in “youth development and mentorship with young girls” stems from Jolie’s charity work and overall goodness.
“I think back to a quote I saw years ago that said, ‘I am a strong woman because a strong woman raised me,’” Zahara said before turning to Jolie. “Thank you, Mom.”
Jolie was married to Pitt, 62, for two years before she filed for divorce in September 2016.
The exes were declared legally single in November 2019 but remained embroiled in a legal battle over custody of their children. The legal proceedings were finalized in December 2024.
“More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family,” Jolie’s lawyer James Simon told Us Weekly in a statement at the time. “This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”
Pitt broke his silence about the divorce being finalized in May 2025, telling GQ he didn’t feel “relief.” He explained, “I don’t think it was that major of a thing. Just something coming to fruition. Legally.”
