Celebrity
Former First Lady Explains Why She’s Proud Malia Chose To Drop The Family Name
Following her daughter Malia’s decision to alter her name while releasing her first film project, Michelle Obama has made her true feelings public.
Gaining a genuine grasp of the Obamas’ family life was challenging throughout Michelle’s tenure as first lady.
However, Michelle in particular has talked about what life was like before, during, and after the family’s time in Washington, DC, after the 44th President left the White House in early 2017.
Additionally, a lot has changed since the Obamas departed the White House about eight years ago, such as the recent removal of the renowned surname by their daughter Malia.
For the credits of her short film, The Heart, which she wrote and directed, 26-year-old Malia used her middle name, Ann, as her last name.
Michelle has since spoken out after this name change became public knowledge, telling actors Kate and Oliver Hudson in an episode of their Sibling Revelry podcast: “Our daughters [Malia and Sasha] are 26 and 23. They are young adult women, but they definitely went through a period in their teen years where it was the push away … [where] you’re trying to distinguish yourself.”
“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. They’re very sensitive to that, they want to be their own people.”
The former first lady added: “Malia, who started in film, I mean, her first project – she took off her last name, and we were like, they’re still going to know it’s you, Malia. But we respected the fact that she’s trying to make her way.”
Michelle acknowledges that her two children, who grew up in the White House, didn’t fully comprehend their parents’ roles at the time.
However, it has all changed now that they are all adults.
Michelle added, “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.”
Speaking about Malia’s success in films on The Pivot Podcast, Barack Obama also mentioned his daughter’s name change.
“[Malia’s] first film went to Sundance and all these fancy film festivals, and she didn’t use Obama as director on the credits,” the former president said to host Ryan Clark.
“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 name].’ So I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that.”
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