Brad Pitt allegedly tried to stop his daughter Shiloh Jolie-Pitt from testifying about her preferences for a custody arrangement years ago, it was claimed on Wednesday.
A source said Shiloh expressed a desire to testify at a hearing in 2021 amid Pitt’s divorce battle with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, according to Us weekly.
However, Shiloh, now 18, was only 14 at the time of the hearing, so Pitt, 60, allegedly tried to stop her from testifying.
Shiloh later took matters into her own hands and requested to change her last name from Jolie-Pitt to just Jolie, removing her father’s name.
The judge reportedly agreed with Pitt’s objection and Shiloh did not end up testifying, although the source did not share any details about what she would have said had she taken the stand.
A spokesperson for Pitt had no comment when contacted by DailyMail.com.
Brad Pitt allegedly tried to stop his daughter Shiloh Jolie-Pitt from testifying about her preferences for a custody arrangement years ago, it was claimed on Wednesday; photographed in Los Angeles in 2022
A source said Shiloh, now 18, expressed a desire to testify at a hearing in 2021 amid Pitt’s divorce battle with ex-wife Angelina Jolie, according to Us Weekly; seen in 2021 in London
She was described as one of the children who wanted to testify, but it is unclear which other children were hoping to testify.
Pitt and Jolie’s other adopted children, Pax, 20, and Zahara, 19, would have been older than Shiloh at the time.
Maddox, now 22, would likely have been 18 at the time of the custody hearing, so it may have had little impact on him as he would have been able to choose which parent he wanted to live with.
The judge eventually granted Pitt joint custody, but he was soon taken off the case.
In July 2021, California’s Second District Court of Appeal disqualified Judge John W. Ouderkirk, who was serving as a private judge, due to business dealings he had with Pitt’s attorneys.
The Court of Appeal found that Ouderkirk had not adequately disclosed the dealings before joining the case.
According to a second source who spoke to Us Weekly, Pitt’s relationship with Shiloh has undergone a drastic transformation in recent years.
‘She (used to be) very close to Brad and his family, but that relationship (changed) in recent years,’ they stated.
That change was apparently exemplified by Shiloh’s request to change his name in May.
Shortly after the filing was reported, a source confirmed to DailyMail.com that the celebrity’s daughter had paid her own lawyer to make the name change request.
Shiloh, who was 14 at the time, was reportedly among other children who wanted to testify, but a judge agreed with Pitt and prevented the testimony before granting him joint custody; seen with Jolie in 2021 in Rome
“Shiloh hired her own lawyer and paid for it herself, so Angie doesn’t know and can’t speak for it,” they said.
Although Shiloh’s request has not yet been granted, submissions are relatively common and there is little reason to think they would be rejected.
Days after Shiloh’s presentation was made public, a source close to Pitt said People that he was ‘aware and upset’ by his daughter’s desire to remove her surname from his.
Shiloh isn’t the only child of the Tree Of Life star and Jolie trying to change her name. The couple shares six children: Maddox, 22 years old; Pax, 20; Zahara, 19; Shiloh, 18; and twins Knox and Vivienne, 15 years old.
More recently, her daughter Vivienne’s name was listed as ‘Vivienne Jolie’ in a program for the musical adaptation of The Outsiders, which her mother produced while she was his assistant. However, it is not known if she legally changed her name.
The former couple’s daughter, Zahara, previously introduced herself as ‘Zahara Marley Jolie’ when she joined the Mu Pi chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Spelman College late last year.
And Pitt and Jolie’s eldest children, Maddox and Pax, reportedly have not publicly used their father’s last name in years, and both have been openly antagonistic toward him.
Pitt and Jolie began dating publicly shortly after he and his then-wife Jennifer Aniston announced their divorce in 2005.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s co-stars remained single for years despite having several biological and adopted children together, but they became engaged in 2012 and eventually married in 2014.
However, just two years later, the Maleficent actress filed for divorce in 2016. She and Pitt were declared legally single in 2019.
However, the two celebrities have been embroiled in an ongoing divorce battle over assets and custody for years since.
A central issue appears to be the notorious private jet showdown in 2016.
Her daughter Vivienne (left) included her name as ‘Vivienne Jolie’ in a program for the musical adaptation of The Outsiders, which her mother produced while working as her assistant; seen on April 11 in New York
Zahara (not pictured) introduced herself to her sorority sisters without her father’s last name, and her sons Pax (left) and Maddox (third from right) stopped using their father’s name in recent years amid her increasingly public disputes with him.
In an FBI report on the incident, which was released in 2022, Jolie accused Pitt of physical assault while flying to California in 2016. She claimed he was drunk and that he grabbed her by the head, shook her, and then pushed her down. . , as part of a confrontation allegedly related to her children.
Jolie told the FBI that Pitt told the children he was “screwing this family” and said he hit the roof of the plane four times, according to a court filing.
She claimed that at one point he spilled beer and a blanket under which she was with several children.
A source close to Pitt later claimed that he never hit any of the boys, although they admitted that he had been drinking.