Inside Angelina Jolie's Relationship With Her Daughter Zahara
Angelina Jolie has always been a mama bear to her children, but with Zahara heading off to college, how will their relationship evolve? Here's what we know about the duo's dynamic.
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00:00Angelina Jolie has always been a mama bear to her children. But with Zahara heading off
00:05to college, how will their relationship evolve? Here's what we know about the duo's dynamic.
00:10Angelina Jolie is a worldwide superstar, but it's her eldest daughter Zahara Jolie-Pitt
00:15who stole the spotlight when they met the president of Ethiopia. To understand why,
00:19though, you have to understand the context of Jolie's relationship with her eldest daughter.
00:23Jolie adopted Zahara in 2005 after visiting an Ethiopian orphanage. Zahara was around six
00:29months old when Jolie completed the adoption process, joined by her now ex-husband, Brad Pitt.
00:34After bringing Zahara home, Jolie felt her mother's instinct kick on. Her daughter wasn't
00:39drinking as much formula as she should have at her age, so Jolie took her to the doctor.
00:43It turned out Zahara had a salmonella infection and was treated with antibiotics and fluids.
00:48Dr. Jane Aronson, who treated Zahara, told People magazine,
00:52"[Jolie was there 24 hours a day keeping watch. She kept saying how much she admired her baby.
00:57She had so much admiration and respect for Zahara's strength."
01:00Thankfully, the infant made it through the bacterial infection and she and Jolie would
01:04go on to form a strong and unbreakable bond. And it was that bond that helped
01:08spur Jolie to a number of humanitarian efforts. When Zahara was three years old,
01:13Jolie established an Ethiopian clinic in her honor. The clinic, named after Zahara,
01:18is designed to help children receive treatment and care for those with tuberculosis,
01:22HIV, and AIDS, and is similar to another children's clinic she established in Cambodia.
01:27Jolie said,
01:28"[Our goal is to transfer the success we have had in Cambodia to Ethiopia,
01:32where people are needlessly dying of tuberculosis,
01:34a curable disease, and HIV-AIDS, a treatable disease."
01:38In 2009, Jolie traveled back to Ethiopia with 4-year-old Zahara. A source close to the family
01:44revealed that it was Zahara's first time back in her native country after being adopted by Jolie,
01:49saying,
01:49"[The trip was about keeping up that culture for her.]
01:52Zahara returned again in 2019 with her mother and sister to meet the first female president
01:57of Ethiopia, Sahale Work Zude. The women spoke about the importance of the availability of
02:02sanitary pads to young girls so that they don't miss school, as well as the topic of education.
02:07It looks as if Zahara is following in her mother's footsteps,
02:10and she has since accompanied Jolie to other important events.
02:13In December 2021, Jolie brought along Zahara to Washington, D.C.,
02:18to meet women in power to discuss the Violence Against Women Act.
02:21Jolie shared a picture of Zahara with Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on Instagram,
02:25writing,
02:26"[We need reforms, including judicial training,
02:28trauma-informed court processes that minimize the risk of harm to children,
02:32grant programs for technology to detect bruising across all skin tones,
02:36and create non-biased forensic evidence collection and protections for the most vulnerable."
02:42The following year, Zahara accompanied Jolie to another important Violence Against Women Act
02:46event. Jolie wrote,
02:48Heading into the Senate's introduction of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act,
02:52I'm grateful and humbled to join with dedicated advocates and legislators.
02:56I'm also glad to share in the advocacy with Zahara,
02:59and for her presence to calm my nerves before today's press conference."
03:02It's clear that the bond between the two is quite close, which made it even more difficult
03:07when Zahara left home in 2022 to attend the historically Black Spellman College in Atlanta,
03:12Georgia. A source told Hollywood Life,
03:15Sending Zahara off to college has been tough for Angelina,
03:18but luckily her kids have been stepping up to make sure she doesn't get too down about it.
03:22They're all teenagers now, but they're still so in tune with their mom,
03:25they know when she needs some extra TLC.
03:28It looks like Zahara is adjusting nicely and has already bonded with a group of new friends.
03:32Jolie shared an Instagram pic of her daughter posing with her fellow college attendees,
03:37writing,
03:37"[Zahara with her Spellman sisters! Congratulations to all new students
03:41starting this year! A very special place and an honor to have a family member as a new Spellman
03:46girl."
03:47How does it feel to be a Spellman mom?"
03:49I'm so excited!"
03:50But despite being miles away, Zahara and Jolie still find time to be together,
03:55and their mother-daughter bond remains as strong as ever.