Brad Pitt wishes things were different with the children he shares with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.
“He feels most hurt out of everything that happened with Angie that his children don’t want a public association with his last name,” a source exclusively shared with Us Weekly. “It’s been very difficult.”
During their relationship, Pitt, 62, and Jolie, 50, welcomed kids Pax, 22, Zahara, 21, Shiloh, 20, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 17. Jolie adopted Maddox before meeting Pitt, but the actor later became his legal father.
Earlier this week, Maddox Jolie-Pitt filed to remove his father’s surname from his own, according to legal documents seen by Us. If the request is granted, Maddox will legally be known as Maddox Chivan Jolie in the future. (Chivan is his middle name.)
“[Brad] still does hope and keeps the door open to eventual reconciliation, hopefully with all of them, but it is their decision,” the source explained. “He has no power and he can’t force them.”
While the children all initially used the surname Jolie-Pitt, several of Maddox’s siblings have denounced the Pitt suffix following their parents’ split in 2016. Their divorce proceedings went on for years before the couple finalized their legal settlement in December 2024.
Earlier that year, Zahara used the moniker Zahara Marley Jolie when she joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in June 2024. One month prior, sister Vivenne went by Vivienne Jolie in the Playbill for The Outsiders.
Meanwhile, Shiloh distanced herself from the Mr. & Mrs. Smith actor by legally filing to drop Pitt’s surname on her 18th birthday. The request was ultimately granted in 2024.
“[Brad’s] biggest fear is to be permanently disconnected from the kids because he does want to find a way to make things right,” the insider explained to Us. “His biggest fear is that too much time is going by and the more time without something happening, the harder it will be to reconcile.”
Us has reached out to Pitt’s team for comment.
One year after his split from Jolie, Pitt shared a glimpse into his role as a father. At the time, the Oscar winner admitted he had room for improvement.
“I grew up with a Father-knows-best/war mentality — the father is all-powerful, super strong — instead of really knowing the man and his own self-doubt and struggles,” Pitt explained to GQ in May 2017. “And it’s hit me smack in the face with our divorce: I gotta be more. I gotta be more for them. I have to show them. And I haven’t been great at it.”
Regardless of any drama he was experiencing, Pitt vowed to put “family first.”
“People on their deathbeds don’t talk about what they obtained or were awarded. They talk about their loved ones or their regrets — that seems to be the menu,” he shared at the time. “I say that as someone who’s let the work take me away. Kids are so delicate. They absorb everything. They need to have their hand held and things explained. They need to be listened to. When I get in that busy work mode, I’m not hearing. I want to be better at that.”
