Angelina Jolie has praised her close bond with her six children in a new interview, days after her daughter Vivienne formalized a legal change dropping father Brad Pitt's surname.
Jolie, 51, and Pitt biologically conceived daughter Shiloh, 20, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 18, and also adopted Maddox, 25, Pax, 22, and Zahara, 21. In recent years, every child except Pax and Knox has filed paperwork to remove Pitt's name.
Jolie on raising 'individuals'
Speaking to L'Officiel USA, Jolie said her children "know me pretty well" and "know all sides of me." Asked about Maddox and Pax working as assistant directors on her films, she said: "Obviously it's nice for me to be around them, but I am just Mom, wanting to be around her family."
She described her children as "definitely individuals," adding: "That makes me very proud, because one of the most important things, I think, is to basically not get in their way. As a parent, you try to do many things, but you also try to not get in the way of this human being who has a life separate from yours and so much potential in their own mind. You want to make sure that you support them."
The Daily Mail has contacted a representative for Pitt for comment.
Crying and the making of Without Blood
Jolie also clarified earlier comments suggesting she had never cried in front of her children until making her 2024 Maria Callas biopic, Maria. "To be clear, I don't think any mother has never cried in front of their kid. If they give me a birthday card, I cry," she said, laughing. "I'm kind of famous for quickly crying. But that wailing emotional pain is certainly what I would hide from my children until Maria. It's upsetting to see somebody you care about in that much pain," the Changeling star explained.
She said she enjoyed a "wonderful shoot" with her children while directing her 2024 war drama Without Blood, which starred Salma Hayek. "We were in Italy. We were in the same place, but everybody had their own separate [living space] so we weren't living in a family house together. We were living in a dorm-type situation and everybody was exploring Europe, so that was nice," she said.
Visiting Zahara at Spelman College
Jolie, who adopted Zahara from Ethiopia, also spoke about visiting her at Spelman College, a historically Black women's college in Atlanta, Georgia. "I just felt so deeply honored to be a part of it," she said. "I came in knowing that she belonged and it was a special place for her. I didn't assume I would be as welcomed and educated and supported as I was. There's no place that would've been better for her - it really transformed her and it's really a part of our family now."
She recalled being taken aside and told about the significance of Zahara joining the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. "I didn't know what that really meant, but they talked to me about how it was for life. It's an extraordinary place," the Tomb Raider star said. "Our family felt so proud of her, so honored to be a part of it and to feel like we were welcomed into something that is very special, unique and important."
With her children now grown, Jolie said she was "looking forward to more connection and community" as an empty nester. "I'm not somebody who vacations or shops or things like that. I envision more field work, more travel, and just being out in the world. Get my motorcycle back, get back in a plane. I don't know," she said, adding: "That's definitely what my kids want! They had Mom when Mom needed to be Mom. Now, they'd like me to call them from Tunisia having just landed a plane to meet with local artists. I agree that would be very nice."
Vivienne drops Pitt's surname
Pitt faced a fresh humiliation last month when Vivienne, one of his two youngest children, took out an ad in the Los Angeles Daily Journal announcing she had filed a legal petition to change her surname from Jolie-Pitt to Jolie. Court documents obtained by the Daily Mail state Vivienne is making the change for "personal" reasons, formalizing a swap she had already been using for years. In the Playbill for a 2024 Broadway production of The Outsiders, on which she was credited as a producer alongside her mother, she was listed as Vivienne Jolie.
A source close to Jolie told People: "If people knew the whole truth, they would have more sympathy for the children and respect them. The fact they aren't speaking ill or sharing things publicly only shows their decency. Angie hasn't been fighting and isn't angry. She just wants everyone to heal." Separately, an insider recently told the Daily Mail that Pitt "believes Angelina's role in how things unfolded is the ultimate betrayal."
Origins of the Jolie-Pitt split
Pitt and Jolie fell in love while making the 2005 film Mr & Mrs Smith, when he was still married to his first wife, Jennifer Aniston. Jolie, the daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand, has maintained she did not have an affair with Pitt while he was with Aniston. "To be intimate with a married man, when my own father cheated on my mother, is not something I could forgive," she said on Today. "I could not look at myself in the morning if I did that. I wouldn't be attracted to a man who would cheat on his wife."
Fans around the world took sides in the love triangle, with camps forming behind "Team Jolie" and "Team Aniston." Pitt and Jolie married in 2014 and split two years later, triggering a legal battle over money and custody that continues to this day. Jolie filed for divorce in September 2016 following a dispute on a private plane in the presence of Maddox, then 15.
Private jet allegations and FBI probe
The FBI investigated allegations that Pitt became "physical" with Maddox on the flight, but closed the case with no charges filed. In a 2022 court filing, Jolie alleged that during the flight, "at one point, he poured beer on Jolie; at another, he poured beer and red wine on the children."
A source close to Pitt told CNN: "All parties have had this information for nearly six years and was used in previous legal proceedings. There is nothing new here and serves no purpose other than being a media stunt meant to inflict pain." In court papers filed in April 2024 over a property dispute, Jolie accused Pitt of having been abusive to her "well before" the plane incident. Pitt told Esquire this summer that he was "back off the wagon" after seven years of sobriety following the split.
Pax's accident and family fallout
Pax suffered a frightening accident in July 2024 when he crashed his dirt bike into a car in Los Angeles while not wearing a helmet. Sources told the Daily Mail that Jolie was "by his side in hospital," while Pitt was "distraught and worried over Pax's accident, but he is unable to reach him."
The crash came four years after Pax posted an explosive social media tirade calling his father a "world class a**hole" and a "terrible and despicable person" who had caused his four younger siblings to "tremble in fear." A source told Page Six this summer that Pax still meets with his paternal extended family and has not filed to remove Pitt's name.
The Chateau Miraval battle
Jolie and Pitt remain locked in a legal fight over Chateau Miraval, the winery they once shared in the South of France. The dispute stems from Jolie selling her half to Russian billionaire Yuri Shefler for $67 million in 2021, during her divorce proceedings. Shefler runs a vast international alcohol empire that includes the Stolichnaya vodka brand and has previously sold a superyacht to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Pitt sued Jolie over the sale, arguing she was contractually required to get his consent as co-owner before offloading her share. Jolie has raised her abuse allegations and the custody battle throughout the winery dispute, and has asked Pitt to "end the fighting" and drop the lawsuit so the family can "heal." She has also alleged that her decision to sell her stake was partly driven by the impact of Pitt's "acknowledged problem of alcohol abuse" on their family.
