Angelina Jolie celebrated her 51st birthday with her children in Los Angeles, marking the occasion just days after her eldest son Maddox officially dropped the surname of his estranged father , Brad Pitt.

The $30 million toe in the water

The move comes after Maddox, now 24, filed a petition last month to legally remove Pitt from his name, changing it officially to Maddox Chivan Jolie. he cited personal reasons for the change, marking another step in the growing distance between Brad Pitt and his children following the bitter divorce with Jolie.

Maddox had already informally dropped the surname in February, when he was credited as Maddox Jolie in the end credits of his mother's film Couture, rather than the traditional Maddox Jolie-Pitt.

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The children have largely stayed by Jolie's side, forming a tight-knit unit as they navigate life after the divorce. Jolie has continued her acting and humanitarian work, recently premiering Couture and other projects.

For her birthday, the simple family gathering in Los Angeles was likely a welcome respite from the headlines surrounding the name changes. The Jolie children, as they now prefer to be known, appear to be forging their own identities, independent of their famous ftaher's legacy.

An echo of Sydney's 2024 institutional buy-up

His sister Shiloh, now 20, filed legal paperwork to change her name to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie when she turned 18 in 2024. Zahara, 21, had also publicly removed Pitt from her name during her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority initiation in late 2023 and again at her Spelman College graduation.

Vivienne, 17, was credited as Vivienne Jolie on the playbill for the Broadway musical The Outsiders in May 2024. These moves come amid the ongoing estrangement between Brad Pitt and his children, which has been a painful consequence of the protracted and contentious divorce battle between the former couple.

What auditors flagged in the May filing

Brad Pitt, 62, and Angelina Jolie were married from 2014 to 2019, but their relationship had soured years earlier. Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, citing irreconcilable differences, and later accused Pitt of abusing both her and their children-allegations he has consistently denied.

Their divorce was finalized only in late 2024 after a long legal war. Since then, the children have increasingly chosen to distance themselves from their father's name.