Brad Pitt’s kids Zahara and Maddox take out newspaper ads to officially drop ‘Pitt’ from last name

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's children Zahara and Maddox have taken out newspaper ads as the next step in officially dropping their father's last name. Court documents show Zahara, 21, published her petition in the Los Angeles Daily Journal for four consecutive weeks starting June 16, with a scheduled September 28 court hearing. Maddox, 24, ran his petition in the same publication from June 10 to July 1. Publicly publishing a petition in a newspaper is one of California's required hurdles for a legal name change. Zahara previously requested her name be Zahara Jolie instead of Zahara Jolie-Pitt and was announced as Zahara Marley Jolie at her Spelman College graduation. Maddox filed his request in May, listing reasons as "personal." Their sibling Shiloh was the first to make it official on her 18th birthday, hiring her own lawyer. All six children have reportedly distanced themselves from Pitt following his and Jolie's 2016 split, though son Pax remains close with Pitt's family members.