Angelina Jolie’s daughter Zahara publicly dropped dad Brad Pitt’s last name — this time, at her college graduation.
Zahara, 21, graduated from Spelman College over the weekend. According to footage shared via social media, when Zahara walked across the stage to receive her diploma she was announced as “Zahara Marley Jolie,” noticeably omitting her dad’s surname from her own moniker.
This isn’t the first time Zahara has dropped her dad’s name when introducing herself. Three years ago, when Zahara joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, she referred to herself as Zahara Marley Jolie.
“My name is Zahara Marley Jolie,” she said in a clip shared via social media in 2023. “Coming all the way from the Golden State in the city that is full of angels, Los Angeles, California. … I am this line’s number seven.”
While Zahara hasn’t publicly spoken out about her relationship with Pitt, she has been candid about her relationship with Jolie. Last month, Jolie was by Zahara’s side while her daughter gave a speech during the Pearls of Purpose Foundation Scholarship Mother Daughter Luncheon.
“When asked to speak with you all today about mother daughter relationships, it felt challenging to find the words. 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,” Zahara told the audience last month per footage shared via social media. “Our love for each other is a found one. I was adopted at six months old and given some of the most special and loving people as my siblings with a mom who raised us on the value of helping others, being kind and always striving for growth as people.”
Zahara gushed about how Jolie was her “role model” who showed her “how to be a decent human being.”
“She is the most selfless, loving and understanding woman that I get to call my mom,” she continued. “I think back to a quote I saw years ago that said ‘I am a strong woman because a strong woman raised me.’ Thank you, Mom.”
In addition to Zahara, Jolie and Pitt share sons Maddox, 24 and Pax 22, as well as daughter Shiloh, 19 and twins Knox and Vivienne, 17. Jolie and Pitt fell in love while starring in the 2004 film Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The pair wed a decade later. Jolie and Pitt split in 2016 and became embattled in a messy divorce which was finalized in 2024.
Zahara is not the only one to have dropped Pitt as her last name since their parents’ break-up. Us Weekly previously reported that Shiloh submitted paperwork to legally change her last name to Jolie while Vivienne has used her mother’s last name professionally. While working on the Broadway show The Outsiders, Vivienne was credited in a playbill as Vivienne Jolie.
