Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt ignited a media frenzy when they first came together. Whether you liked, hated, or didn’t care that two of Hollywood’s most beautiful people were together, you couldn’t avoid seeing photographs of them together in every magazine.
Despite allegations of adultery and secret affairs, Hollywood’s most recognizable couple remained together for 12 years, raising three biological children and three adoptive children.
Angelina Jolie, the star of “Tomb Raider,” already had two adopted sons, Maddox and Pax, when she met Brad Pitt on the set of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” in 2004. Brad Pitt was still married to Jennifer Aniston back then.
“Because of the film, we ended up being brought together to do all these crazy things, and I think we found this strange friendship and partnership that kind of just suddenly happened.
I think a few months in I realized, ‘God, I can’t wait to get to work.’ …
Anything we had to do with each other, we just found a lot of joy in it together and a lot of real teamwork. We just became kind of a pair,” Angelina Jolie told People in 2006.
There were many rumors at the time regarding Pitt and Jolie’s prospective romance, but the key protagonists of the conjecture remained silent.
“We spent a lot of time contemplating and thinking and talking about what we both wanted in life and realized that we wanted very, very similar things,” Angelina told me.
Angelina consented to adopt Ethiopian-born Zahara Marley in 2005, and Brad Pitt co-adopted her in 2006.
Angelina declared in 2006 that she was pregnant with Brad’s child, confirming their relationship. To avoid the inevitable media frenzy, Elizabeth and Pitt traveled to Namibia for the birth.
The announcement that Brad and Angelina, also known as “Brangelina,” were expecting a child together made headlines throughout the world.
According to photo agencies, the first photo of the infant was expected to be worth $1 million, so it’s no surprise that an army of paparazzi tried everything to get close to the parents.
“Not since Jesus has a baby been so eagerly anticipated,” wrote New York magazine.
On May 27, 2006, the couple gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Shiloh Nouvel. Their daughter was delivered in The Cottage Medi-Clinic, a private hospital in Namibia’s coastal town of Swakopmund.
“Angelina underwent a scheduled cesarean due to breech presentation,” Dr. Rothbart told PEOPLE at the time, adding:
“The baby was a healthy 7 lbs. Brad was with Angelina in the operating room the entire time and cut the umbilical cord of his daughter. The surgery and birth went flawlessly. ”
Brad and Angelina then sold the photos of their stunning bundle for a record sum, with all revenues going to UNICEF.
”While we celebrate the joy of the birth of our daughter, we recognize that 2 million babies born every year in the developing world die on the first day of their lives. These children can be saved, but only if governments around the world make it a priority,” the couple said in a statement.
The remarkable circumstances under which this young girl was born made it difficult to go anywhere without being followed by the media, yet despite the attention, the couple has done everything possible to keep their children’s lives private.
Of course, all eyes were on Shiloh. Given her parents, this comes as no surprise.
Shiloh celebrated her 16th birthday this May. She’s starting to grow up quickly. The youngster is said to be close to her elder brothers and sister, as well as her younger twin siblings Knox and Vivienne, who are now 14 years old.
Because none of them use social media, little is known about the renowned family, but one anecdote has emerged: the couple’s oldest biological kid has not used the name Shiloh since he was very little.
The youngster now goes by the name John Jolie-Pitt, which she chose herself. During a 2008 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Pitt revealed that Shiloh had asked him to call her John instead.
”She only wants to be called John. John or Peter. So it’s a Peter Pan thing. So we’ve got to call her John,” he said.
“So we’ve got to call her John. ‘Shi, do you want …’ – ‘John. I’m John.’ And then I’ll say, ‘John, would you like some orange juice?’ And she goes, ‘No!’ So, you know, it’s just that kind of stuff that’s cute to parents, and it’s probably really obnoxious to other people.”
Her parents, who divorced in 2019, are completely supportive of their child’s name choice, as well as John’s desire to dress like her brothers.
“She wants to be a boy,” Angelina told Vanity Fair. “So we had to cut her hair. She likes to wear boys’ everything. She thinks she’s one of the brothers.”
Mom Angelina approved of the name change, despite the fact that Shiloh had a special importance for her.
“It was a name my parents almost named their first child — there was a miscarriage: Shiloh Baptist. Because my father had been shooting in Georgia and that was the most southern name [my parents] could come up with,” she explained.
“It’s a name I always liked. I used to go under it in hotels: Shiloh Baptist. I’d gone under it when Brad called hotel rooms where I was staying.”
Despite Brad and Angelina’s divorce, Shiloh has maintained a positive relationship with both of her parents.
Furthermore, according to media accounts, Brad Pitt is an extremely proud father.
”Brad’s kids are the most important thing to him. He tells his friends he learns so much about life from his own children,” a source told Entertainment Tonight, continuing:
”He and Angie have been getting along so much better since the custody rules have been worked out. They have come so far.”
Doesn’t Shiloh resemble her father? Many believe that she inherited her mother’s lips.
”Brad is so proud of Shiloh and who she has become. He loves that she always stays true to herself and is so good to her brothers and sisters,” one source told ET.
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt surgery
Fast forward to March 2020, and Angelina Jolie confirmed that her daughter had undergone surgery. She wrote for Time in connection with International Women’s Day.
“I have spent the last two months in and out of surgeries with my eldest daughter [Zahara], and days ago watched her younger sister [Shiloh] go under the knife for hip surgery.
“So my wish on this day is that we value girls. Care for them. And know that the stronger they grow, the healthier they will be and the more they will give back to their family and community.”
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt made headlines again in 2011 when she attended the U.K. premiere of Marvel’s “Eternals”.
According to People, she wore the same black-and-white Dior that her mother wore at a press conference for “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” in 2019.
Shiloh’s fresh appearance and dress choices raised many eyes. However, Shiloh had borrowed her mother’s clothes before.
Shiloh attended the US premiere of “Eternals” in July 2021, dressed in her mother’s Gabriela Hearst attire.
We can all learn a lot from Brad and Angelina’s handling of this scenario, which allows Shiloh to wear whatever she wants and arrange her hair the way she wants it.
This way, Shiloh is not pressured to conform to any ideal, and she may take her time figuring out who she wants to be. After all, it is all any young person is attempting to do.