Michelle Obama Reacts To Daughter Malia Dropping Last Name
Kids dropping their famous parents' last names is nothing new in the celebrity world, and Malia Obama, the 26-year-old daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama, is among those who have made the move.
For some context, Malia premiered her directorial debut, The Heart, at the Sundance Film Festival last year. She wrote and directed the 18-minute short film and made the notable decision to submit it and credit herself all under the name Malia Ann.
Ann is Malia's middle name. For the record, it doesn't seem like she has filed to legally change her name, and there's currently no indication to suggest she will.
And while other celeb kid name-changes might be linked to family conflicts or fractured relationships, it sounds like Malia's decision to leave off 'Obama' has more to do with her professional life than anything else.
Speaking on Kate and Oliver Hudson's Sibling Revelry podcast on Monday, the former first lady opened up about how Malia and her soon-to-be 24-year-old sister, Sasha, are trying to 'distinguish' themselves as young adults.
'I mean, it is very important for my kids to feel like they've earned what they are getting in the world, and they don't want people to assume that they don't work hard, that they're just naturally, just handed things,' she said. 'They're very sensitive to that — they want to be their own people.'
Discussing the name-change specifically, Michelle said that she and Barack were slightly skeptical of the move initially. 'Her first project — she took off her last name, and we were like, 'They're still going to know it's you, Malia,'' she said. 'But we respected the fact that she's trying to make her way.'
Speaking more about her grown-up girls, who've remained very private since their family bid goodbye to the White House in 2017, Michelle said: 'As they're older, I think they are embracing our parenting principles. They have a clearer understanding of why we did a lot of what we did. They understand us as full human beings now, in the same way that I think I discovered that about my parents when I went away to college.'
Notably, Barack echoed similar thoughts about the name-change when discussing Malia's decision not to credit herself as an Obama at Sundance. ''You do know they'll know who you are,'' he recalled telling his daughter during an appearance on The Pivot podcast in October. 'And she's all like, 'You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association [with the Obama last name].''
'So I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that,' he concluded.
And you know what, good for them! You can find Michelle and her brother Craig's full appearance on the Sibling Revelry podcast here.
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