Michelle Obama justifies her daughters’ choice to distance themselves from their surname…
At 25, Malia Obama decided to turn a symbolic page by leaving behind, for the duration of a credit roll, the illustrious surname that has always preceded her.
Michelle Obama – Crédit photo: @cybersecdn.comcybersecdn.com
For her first short film presented at the Sundance festival, the eldest daughter of former U.S. President Barack Obama (2009-2017) chose to appear under the name “Malia Ann,” her middle name. A discreet yet determined way to assert her artistic identity, far from the political spotlight.
Titled The Heart, this short film written and directed by Malia was unveiled in 2024 at Sundance’s prestigious independent showcase. While the name “Obama” doesn’t appear anywhere in the credits, the connection was clear to everyone, a reality the main party was well aware of, as reported by her mother, Michelle Obama, in the American podcast Sibling Revelry, hosted by Kate Hudson and her brother Oliver.
“We told her: ‘You know, Malia, they’re still going to know it’s you’,” recounted the former First Lady with a smile. “But we respected her desire to make a name for herself on her own terms.“
A Willful Emancipation
Michelle Obama, a guest on the podcast alongside her brother Craig Robinson, praised the growing independence of her two daughters, Malia (25) and Sasha (23). For her, this phase of life is one of necessary assertion, a time for building an identity outside the family framework:
“They are young adult women. They want to be free to be who they are. Like all young people, they have gone through this phase of detachment.”
Behind this choice of media discretion is a personal demand: not to owe anything to their father’s fame.
“It’s very important for my children to feel that they have earned what they achieve in life. They don’t want people to think they haven’t worked hard or that everything was handed to them.“
The former First Lady, who has remained particularly discreet since early 2025, did not attend Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony. This highly commented absence fueled persistent divorce rumors. Michelle Obama addressed it in another podcast, Work in Progress, last April:
“I chose to do what was best for me, not what I was supposed to do (…) What holds us back, as women, is the fear of disappointing. This year, people couldn’t even imagine I was making a personal decision: they assumed we were divorcing.“