On her eighteenth birthday, Shiloh Jolie filed to change her name.
Like so many of her siblings, she is ridding herself of Brad Pitt’s surname.
Rumors circulated that she’d “taken out an ad” to announce the change. That’s not exactly what happened.
Additionally, through her attorney, Shiloh Jolie is explaining what led to her purging Brad Pitt from her name.
Yes, Shiloh Jolie filed for a name change
Until she turned 18, the world knew Shiloh as “Shiloh Jolie-Pitt.” Some of her siblings had already begun going by the “Jolie” surname.
Shiloh filed for a legal name change on her 18th birthday. While minors can have their names changed, one imagines that it was simpler if she didn’t have to secure parental permission.
A rumor claimed that she had taken out an “advertisement” in the paper to declare her name change. As anyone familiar with the name-change process might be aware, this was a misrepresentation — and Shiloh’s attorney wants to clear the air.
Shiloh Jolie’s attorney, Peter Levine, spoke to Page Six about her name change and about the newspaper ad rumor.
“Shiloh Jolie did not take out an ‘ad’ announcing any name change,” Levine clarified.
“And,” he then emphasized, “any press reporting that is inaccurate.”
Why is Shiloh Jolie dropping Brad Pitt’s last name?
There was a legal notice in the paper. Many places have laws requiring this as part of the name-change process. Most of the time it’s harmless, sometimes it’s dangerous, and in this case, it proved “sensational” in some eyes.
“As Shiloh’s attorney, I am required to publish a legal notice,” Levine explained. “Because the law in California requires that of anyone who wants to change their name.”
Shiloh’s attorney then detailed: “That legal notice was published in the Los Angeles Times, as is required.”
Levine then advised that various outlets “should be more careful in their reporting.”
He expressed that this is true “especially when covering a young adult who has made an independent and significant decision following painful events, and is merely following legal process.”
Specifically, Shiloh has filed to change her name from Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Nouvel Jolie. And yes, she made that filing on her 18th birthday.
It seems that Brad Pitt has effectively lost his family
For the better part of the past decade, it seems that Brad Pitt has alienated his children following a fateful flight during which he allegedly abused both then-wife Angelina and more than one of the children.
In response, Angelina filed for divorce. Brad Pitt’s response has seemingly been to wage a legal war at great cost to him and to his ex-wife, seemingly out of spite.
Shiloh’s name change (like that of her siblings) is merely a symbol of where things stand.