Barack Obama has apparently applauded his “very headstrong” daughter for leaving her name professionally as she forges her own career and tries to shake off the stigma of nepotism around babies.
Malia Obama, 26, received a wave of criticism when she used the pseudonym Malia Ann during her directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year.
Now, her father has revealed that he wanted people to see her short film ‘The Heart’, which she worked on with Donald Glover, without immediately associating her with the Obama family.
Barack, speaking Tuesday on The Pivot podcast, says he warned Malia that people would still know who she was even if she dropped her last name, but claims that both she and her younger sister Sasha, 23, “do everything they can to not try.” to take advantage of his family status.
“The challenge for us is to allow us to provide them with any help,” he told host Ryan Clark. ‘I mean they are very sensitive about these things. They are very stubborn about it.
Malia Obama, 26, used the pseudonym Malia Ann when she made her directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. He is pictured at the Sundance premiere of his film The Heart on January 18, 2024 in Park City, Utah.
Barack Obama, appearing on The Pivot podcast on Tuesday (pictured), says he warned Malia that people would still know who she was even if she dropped her last name, but claims that both she and her younger sister Sasha “do everything Do your best not to try to take advantage of your family status.
Malia used her middle name ‘Ann’ instead of her last name in the credits of her first film, but her father says he knew that wouldn’t make people link her to him and his wife Michelle.
“I was like, ‘You know they’ll know who you are,'” Barack, 63, shared.
“And she says, ‘You know what? “I want them to see it for the first time and in no way have that association.”
The former president explained that he will ‘be a dad’ and ‘brag a little’ about his daughters’ successes, but he has also tried to keep their lives private as much as possible.
“When I was a kid, the press was pretty good,” Barack recalled, explaining how he “made a deal” with the White House press corps so they could follow him around, talk to him and “do whatever they had to do.” “whenever they agreed on a rule.
‘Leave my children alone. Because they have the right to grow. “They didn’t choose this,” he said. ‘Let them grow.’
Barack said the press respected his and Michelle’s wishes, but now that the girls are older they are fighting “paparazzi stuff.”
That drives them crazy. Her attitude is “we’re not looking for all that,” she said of her daughters, adding, “So they’re grounded.”
Malia received criticism for her attempt to separate herself from the Obama name when the film was released earlier this year, with many social media users branding her a “nepo baby.” Malia appears at the American Film Festival in Deauville, France on September 6, 2024.
Malia became ‘first daughter’ in 2008 when Obama was elected to his first term
Malia received criticism for her attempt to separate herself from the Obama name when the film was released earlier this year, with many social media users branding her a “nepo baby.”
“Obama’s daughter tries to mock baby nepo speech by not using her last name”. Bro, you’re Obama’s daughter,” one X user wrote at the time.
They added: ‘If you want to be a filmmaker, that’s great, but we all know who you are, you’re Obama’s daughter.’ You can’t hide that.’
“Calling yourself ‘Malia Ann’ won’t stop any criticism from Nepo Baby, miss former first daughter,” said another.
But an Brilliant logic.’
Another said: ‘I’m so proud of Malia. I noticed he also uses his middle name. It’s amazing to see people create their own lane. I’m sure she will be a great storyteller.’
‘I congratulate you for your work. And without taking advantage of his last name. Come on Malia. I hope you win a prize,” echoed another.
Malia spent eight years living in the White House while her father was president
He moved to the White House with his family in 2008 and stayed during Obama’s second term until 2017.
Even actress Whoopi Goldberg, whose real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson, rushed to Malia’s defense.
“Apparently some people online are criticizing her for it, claiming that everyone knows she’s an Obama, so there’s no point in hiding it,” Goldberg said on her talk show The View in February.
‘If she knows it’s Obama, why do you care? Why do you care what she calls herself? If you wanted to be called Jeanette MacDonald, you have the right to do so! If I can be Whoopi Goldberg, she can be whoever she wants to be!’
The former first daughter wrote and directed ‘The Heart’, a short film about the relationship between a mother and her son.
It was her first film to appear at Sundance after interning on HBO’s Girls and working for Harvey Weinstein’s production company.
Since the Obamas left the White House in 2017, Malia and her younger sister Sasha have kept a relatively low profile.
They both attended college (Malia at Harvard and Sasha at the University of Michigan) and began their own careers.
Malia and her sister grew up in the spotlight, but have kept a relatively low profile since.
Malia has done several internships in film and now works as an editor.
Malia started out as an intern on Halle Berry’s CBS sci-fi series Extant when she was just 15, and then moved on to intern on HBO’s Girls when she was 17.
She also won an internship for Harvey Weinstein’s production company when she was 19, in the months before the sexual abuse scandal broke in 2017.
She then worked as a writer on Donald Glover’s Amazon Prime series, Swarm.
Glover told Vanity Fair in 2022: ‘She is an incredibly talented person. She is very focused and working very hard.
‘I feel like she’s someone who’s going to have some really good things happen to her soon. Your writing style is great.’