Barack Obama got candid on his daughter Malia dropping her last name in a professional setting.
After the 26-year-old tried to distance herself from her famous moniker for her directorial debut, the former president, 63, said he warned her that doing so wouldn’t hide her connection to her parents.
“Her first film went to Sundance and all these fancy film festivals and she didn’t use ‘Obama’ as a director on the credits,” Barack said during Tuesday’s episode of the “Pivot” podcast.
Barack Obama talks about Malia dropping her last name.
“I was all like, ‘You do know they’ll know who you are.’ ”
He explained that Malia wanted audiences to watch her film, “The Heart,” without thinking of her family ties.
“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,’ ” continued Barack.
Obama gets candid on his family during a recent podcast episode.
Malia Ann Obama at the “The Heart” premiere during the Sundance Film Festival. Getty Images
The father of two, who is also dad to daughter Sasha, 23, with former First Lady Michelle Obama, admitted that neither of his daughters are interested in using their family name to get ahead.
“I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that,” he said.
“The challenge for us is letting us give them any help at all,” Barack reiterated. “I mean they’re very sensitive about this stuff. They’re very stubborn about it.”
Malia Ann Obama at the opening ceremony of the 50th American Film Festival in Deauville, France, in September. Reynaud Julien/APS-Medias/ABACA/Shutterstock
When the news hit in February after she credited herself as “Malia Ann” for her directorial debut, critics on X shared their disdain. Many were conflicted by Malia’s choice to disconnect herself from Barack and Michelle, 60, after having lived in the White House during her dad’s two presidential terms from 2009 to 2017.
“Nepo baby strikes again,” one hater tweeted at the time.
“Obama’s daughter trying to sneak past nepo baby discourse by not using her last name. Bro you are Obama’s Daughter,” another said.
Malia, and her mom, First Lady Michelle Obama, share a hug onstage NurPhoto via Getty Images
“Her ‘entertainment career’ is so funny,” another person noted of Malia’s bio. “She interned on Girls at 15, interned with Weinstein at 18 (just months before the sh-t went down), and then writes for a Donald Glover show at like 24 without a single writing credit, and now immediately gets her first short in Sundance.”
But “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg was quick to come to Malia’s defense.
“Apparently some folks online are criticizing her for it, claiming everyone knows she’s an Obama, so it’s pointless to hide it,” the 68-year-old shared on the talk show at the time.
President Obama is joined by Michelle and Malia after his farewell address at McCormick Place in Chicago in 2017. Tribune News Service via Getty Images
“If she knows she’s an Obama, why do you care? Why do you care what she calls herself?” she continued.
“If she wanted to call herself Jeanette MacDonald, she has the right to! If I can be Whoopi Goldberg, she can be whoever the hell she wants to be!”