Brangelina's adopted daughter introduces herself without father's surname

Zahara Jolie-Pitt (L) and Angelina Jolie attend an event together. Photo from Zahara Jolie-Pitt Fanpage Instagram

In a video uploaded and shared via Instagram, the 18-year-old is seen stating her name thusly in front of her fellow members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority, reported The Independent.

"My name is Zahara Marley Jolie," she shouted. "And [I] landed all the way from the Golden State in the city full of angels: Los Angeles, California."

Her action prompted many to believe that it was a deliberate omission, given the two actors’ divorce and unsettled custody fight.

It also reminded people of a story reported by US Weekly in 2021, which said an exclusive source told the paper that Maddox Jolie-Pitt, the oldest among the ex-couple’s adopted children, did the same thing.

"He [Maddox Jolie-Pitt] doesn’t use Pitt as his last name on documents that aren’t legal and instead uses Jolie," quoted the source. "Maddox wants to legally change his last name to Jolie, which Angelina has said she doesn’t support."

Zahara was adopted from an orphanage in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa by Jolie and Pitt in 2005, when she was six months old. Her biological mother made an appearance in front of the media after that, explaining that she had abandoned Zahara due to illness.

Zahara is now enrolled in Spelman College in Atlanta and is also helping her mother prepare the launch of her own fashion brand Atelier Jolie at the same time.

Jolie, 48, has six children with her ex-husband film star Brad Pitt, 60: Maddox, Pax Thien, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne, and Knox Jolie-Pitt. Maddox, Pax Thien, and Zahara were adopted from orphanages in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Ethiopia, respectively. Meanwhile, Shiloh, Vivienne, and Knox are the couple’s biological children.

The actors have been embroiled in a custody battle following Jolie’s initial divorce filing in 2016. Jolie was granted physical custody of the kids, while Pitt was given joint custody in 2021. However, the legal battle between the two stars is still ongoing.