Tragic Details About Angelina Jolie And Brad Pitt's Daughter Zahara

This article mentions sexual assault.

As the daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, Zahara Jolie-Pitt is Hollywood royalty. But the former couple’s power status hasn’t shielded their oldest daughter from pain. On the contrary, a lot of it was caused by them. Jolie and Pitt’s long, drawn-out divorce has taken a toll on Zahara and her five siblings. While Jolie has accused Pitt of violent behavior, she has been prevented from discussing details of her marriage as they continue to battle it out in court.

However, some details have emerged that suggest many, if not all, of Jolie and Pitt’s six children have taken their mother’s side. Reports suggest that the older Jolie-Pitt children, including Zahara, Maddox, Pax, and even Shiloh — who was believed to be the one closest to Pitt — have chosen to cut off relations with their father. “He has virtually no contact with the adult kids,” a source told People in July 2024.

Besides her estrangement from her father and alleged violence either suffered or witnessed at his hands, Zahara’s life in the U.S. has also come with its fair share of racial bias. But her short life before her adoption in July 2005 was no better. Zahara’s birth mother was the victim of a violent rape. Even though she initially decided to keep the baby, the woman ran away and left the girl behind. Whether before or after coming into Jolie and Pitt’s lives, Zahara has overcome a lot.

Zahara Jolie-Pitt has lived a life of privilege and access, but her life started out at the opposite end of the spectrum. Zahara’s biological mother became pregnant after being sexually assaulted by a stranger. Mentewab Dawit Lebiso had just left the construction site where she worked one night in the spring of 2004 when she was attacked by the man. “He pulled a dagger, put one hand on my mouth, so that I could not scream,” she told Reuters in 2007.

Mentewab kept the pregnancy a secret for as long as she could. “I feared the consequences of being raped in a community where rape is considered a taboo, even if what happened happened forcibly,” she said. However, her mother was supportive and encouraged her to keep the baby. Mentewab tried, but her postpartum experience was far from easy. She struggled to breastfeed and believed her baby was falling ill because of it. In her turmoil, Mentewab left home. “I was desperate and decided to run away, rather than see my child dying,” she said.

Unable to provide for the baby, Mentewab’s mother decided to put her up for adoption. Mentewab knows her mother’s decision gave Zahara the best opportunity imaginable. Jolie seemingly was unaware of the story. In 2006, she appeared to believe Zahara’s biological mother was dead. “Her mother died of AIDS and so they wouldn’t have had any funds to send her to school,” she told NBC News.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Zahara Jolie-Pitt was just 6 months old when Angelina Jolie brought her into her family. She has had no contact with her biological family since then. But that’s not what Zahara’s biological mother wanted. In a 2017 interview with the Daily Mail, Mentewab Dawit Lebiso, asked Jolie to let her speak to Zahara. “I just want her to know that I am alive and here and long to be able to speak with her,” she said. 

Mentewab clarified that she had no intentions of fighting to remove Zahara from Jolie. “I do not want my daughter back but just to be in contact with her and be able to call her up and talk with her,” she said. Mentewab’s assertions contradicted a 2015 National Enquirer report that contended she was seeking custody of her biological daughter. Instead, Mentewab assured that she was thankful for the life Jolie gave her. “Angelina has been more of a mother to her than I have ever been,” she said.

Despite her gratitude, Mentewab still wishes she could be a part of Zahara’s life. “Before I die I would like her to know about me and that she has family here in Ethiopia,” she said. Zahara has been to her native country. In 2019, she even met with the country’s first female president, Sahle-Work Zewde, People reported. It’s unclear whether she sought out her birth family, though unlikely. 

Being removed from her early life of violence hasn’t shielded Zahara Jolie-Pitt from domestic turmoil. In April 2024 documents, Angelina Jolie accused Brad Pitt of abusive behavior toward her since before the infamous 2016 flight that ended their marriage, People reported. But Jolie and Pitt’s plane incident marked the first time he was violent toward the children. “Jolie then immediately left him,” the docs read. Since then, Zahara has seemingly become estranged from Pitt.

In November 2023, Zahara suggested she had ditched her dad’s last name during her sorority induction at Spelman College when she introduced herself as “Zahara Marley Jolie.” While the status of Zahara’s relationship with Pitt is hard to grasp as she hasn’t publicly addressed it, her brother has spoken for her. Pax, whose relationship with Pitt has been openly strained, suggested the “Fight Club” actor acted violently toward Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne, and Knox.

“You have no consideration or empathy toward your 4 youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence,” Pax, then 16, reportedly wrote from his private Instagram account in 2020 (via Daily Mail). Zahara isn’t the only Jolie-Pitt to have stopped using Pitt’s name. Shiloh legally removed Pitt’s last name the day she turned 18 in May 2024. Vivienne also opted to go just by Jolie in the credits to the musical “The Outsiders.” Zahara may not be vocal, but the evidence suggests she hasn’t had a father figure in a long time.

None of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s children has publicly discussed what happened between them and their father. But four of them are now adults and could decide to share their version of events. It’s unclear if they will, but Pitt reportedly lives in fear that they might. “This is a dark cloud hanging over Brad’s head. He can muzzle Angelina with his lawyers, but he can’t muzzle his own kids,” a source told InTouch in July 2024.

Jolie has accused Pitt of forcing her to agree to NDAs in their legal dispute involving their winery, Château Miraval, to ensure she stays quiet about her experience during their marriage, People reported in August 2024. “[Pitt] refused to buy her interest unless he received his newly expanded NDA, enforceable by an $8.5 million holdback specifically designed to force her silence about his abuse and cover-up,” the document read.

Unless he files lawsuits against his kids, that wouldn’t work on them. So far, the Jolie-Pitt siblings have opted to stay out of the spotlight. But Jolie contended that half of them wanted to testify against Pitt during their custody battle in 2020. “The children whose custody is at issue are old enough to understand what is going on … Three of the children have asked to testify,” the documents obtained by Us Weekly showed. The kids didn’t testify, but a source told Page Six that they were heard in some capacity.

Zahara Jolie-Pitt received poor medical advice after undergoing surgery. According to Angelina Jolie, the advice was the product of widespread racial bias within the medical community. “Afterward a nurse told me to call them if her skin ‘turned pink,'” Jolie said in a 2021 Time interview with a Black medical student, despite the advice being geared toward someone with a much lighter complexion.

As a consequence, the complication could have been well underway in silence because Jolie didn’t know what to look for. “I have children from different backgrounds, and I know when there was a rash that everybody got, it looked drastically different depending on their skin color,” Jolie added. The issue wasn’t a one-time blunder directed at Zahara. Jolie believes it’s a structural problem. “Whenever I looked at medical charts, the reference point was always white skin,” she said. Despite having white parents, Zahara seems to have a strong connection with her Black roots.

Over the years, she has embraced her natural hair, sporting different styles that honor its texture. Even though she could have joined pretty much any school across the country, Zahara chose the historically Black Spelman College and joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest sorority established by Black women. Her choice was widely celebrated online. “S/o to the white parents who ensure their black children get to have cultured experiences,” one user gushed on Zahara’s induction video shared by Essence on Instagram.