A New Look for a New Chapter
Knox Jolie made quite an impression on the streets of Los Angeles on Monday, stepping out for a jog with a striking new hairstyle that announced itself rather loudly. The 18-year-old, son of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, was spotted sporting spiked red hair with bleach-blond shaved sides — a dramatic departure from his usual blond locks. Dressed in a cream T-shirt, black shorts, white socks and Crocs, Knox looked relaxed and in good spirits as he soaked up the afternoon sun following a Muay Thai training session with friends.
The timing of his bold style statement wasn't lost on anyone following the Jolie-Pitt family story. The very same day Knox was turning heads on his run, his estranged father was making headlines of his own — for far more sobering reasons.
'The Pain Was So Oppressive'
In a wide-ranging interview with Esquire UK published on Monday, Brad Pitt opened up with rare candour about the darkest period of his life, revealing he once came close to a mental health crisis he described as the only time he had ever fleetingly understood the appeal of suicide.
"I've never been suicidal except for one little period. And in that one little period, I just thought — I just couldn't — just didn't see a way out. The pain was so oppressive."
When asked whether that pain had anything to do with his children, Pitt was brief but pointed. "Family stuff," he said. "We could leave it at that."
He was quick to add that his survival instincts ultimately kicked in, describing himself as a "congenital optimist" — though one who has, by his own admission, "walked foolishly head-on into a Mack truck" because of it.
A Family Growing Further Apart
The revelations land against a backdrop of well-documented estrangement. Pitt and Jolie, who were together from 2005 and separated in 2016 following an alleged incident on a private plane, finalised their divorce in December 2024. In the years since, four of their six children — Maddox, Zahara, Shiloh and Vivienne — have legally filed to drop the Pitt surname, with each petition granted in turn. Knox's twin, Vivienne, most recently confirmed her own name change, having already been credited simply as Vivienne Jolie for her entertainment work.
Knox himself made a quieter statement at his high school graduation in June, when his diploma notably omitted his father's last name. As of now, he and 22-year-old Pax remain the only two of Pitt's children who have not formally filed to remove "Pitt" from their names.
A source close to the celebrity told Us Magazine earlier this year that Pitt has found the distancing deeply painful. "He feels most hurt out of everything that happened with Angie that his children don't want a public association with his last name," the insider said. "It's been very difficult."
"He still does hope and keeps the door open to eventual reconciliation, hopefully with all of them, but it is their decision. He has no power and he can't force them."
Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie has spoken previously about her plans once her twins turned 18 — a milestone Knox and Vivienne reached on 12th July. She told The Hollywood Reporter she intends to spend significant time abroad, including in Cambodia, once her custody obligations to the court formally ended with their adulthood.
For now, Knox appears to be embracing his newfound independence in his own way — one very vivid hair colour at a time.
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