Shiloh Jolie’s Attorney Breaks Silence After Helping Her File for a Name Change Due to ‘Painful Events'

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Shiloh Jolie has had a busy few months. When she turned 18 at the end of May, she filed to have her name legally changed from Shiloh Jolie-Pitt to Shiloh Jolie — cementing the rift between her and her estranged father. Throughout the summer, she’s made headlines when news broke that she allegedly paid for her own lawyer, and her name continues to pop up as her parents’ messy divorce continues to drag on.

Jolie filed for divorce in 2016 and claimed that Pitt had been abusive to her and their six kids — Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne, and Knox. We are of the mind that people should be allowed to change their names for pretty much any reason, but, should the A-lister’s claims be true, it’s even clearer why Shiloh has made this decision and why so many of her siblings have made moves to distance themselves from Pitt.

Most recently, outlets started reporting that Shiloh “took out a newspaper ad” about changing her name, and it inspired Shiloh’s attorney, Peter Levine, to speak out for the first time.

“The media should be more careful in their reporting,” Levine said in a statement, per People, “especially when covering a young adult who has made an independent and significant decision following painful events, and is merely following legal process.”

Part of the name-changing process is to publish the request in the newspaper for a month so that members of the public are aware and given the chance to object.

“Shiloh Jolie did not take out an ‘ad’ announcing any name change, and any press reporting that is inaccurate,” Levine continued. “As Shiloh’s attorney, I am required to publish a legal notice because the law in California requires that of anyone who wants to change their name. That legal notice was published in the Los Angeles Times, as is required.”

Given that the legal notice has to run for four weeks before a judge reviews the case, it’s possible Shiloh won’t have a verdict before the fall. Until then, she can follow the lead of several of her siblings who have already dropped “Pitt” from their name in other settings — even if it’s not official.