Michelle Obama makes first comments after daughter Malia drops last name: 'She's trying to make her way'

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Malia Obama used her middle name for the credits of a short film she directed. Mailia is doing the exact opposite of what the trump kids are doing.

Michelle Obama makes first comments after daughter Malia drops last name: 'She's trying to make her way'

Malia Obama used her middle name for the credits of a short film she directed.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/mic...

— 🦋 kris🌻⋆⋆⋆ (@eviebauer727.bsky.social) 2025-06-04T21:58:51.798Z

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/michelle-obama-makes-comments-after-daughter-malia-drops/story

Former first lady Michelle Obama said she and her husband, Barack, respect their daughter Malia dropping her last name "Obama" in professional projects -- and praised how both of their daughters more generally "want to be their own people."

Malia Obama used her middle name, Ann, as her last name for the credits of a short film she wrote and directed, "The Heart," which aired at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024.

"Our daughters [Malia and Sasha] are 25 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," Michelle Obama told actors Kate and Oliver Hudson in an episode of their podcast "Sibling Revelry" published on Monday.

"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.

"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," Michelle Obama added. "But we respected the fact that she's trying to make her way."

[Cha]

1. Good on Malia! What a brilliant Family.

Mahalo, LMPV.

[speak easy]

3. I don't think anyone will have too much trouble

working out who Malia's Daddy is.

[Cha]

5. Right? Ohh, Malia is So Beautiful.. They all are..

Mahalo Nui Loa for the Photo, speak easy!

[speak easy]

6. 3 more photos of Malia. What a stunning lady she is.

[Ol Janx Spirit]

2. What would America be like today if all modern politicians and their families were like...

...the Obamas? Nobody is perfect, and I would not ever claim that Barak Obama was or is--but his thoughtfulness, intelligence, and moral compass are unmatched; and that extends to his family.

Even though we are polarized and have vastly different opinions on policy, if politicians on both sides of the aisle comported themselves like former president Obama we would be in a much better place as a society. And we would not have to constantly worry that something bad was going to come out that a family member did that will both our agenda and our moral high-ground.

They would also shepherd those on their side of the aisle with anti-democratic and anti-social tendencies into far less destructive silos of political influence rather than stoking those instincts for their own cynical political gain.

As far as I can tell, Harris was in this camp as well. How tragic we are suffering through the second presidency of one of the worst humans to ever occupy that office....

[Melon]

4. This sounds like a very wise thing for a young woman to do professionally.