Why My Daughter Dropped Her Last Name —Barack Obama

The former president of the United States, Barack Obama, has shed light on a surprising and deeply personal choice made by his eldest daughter, Malia.

During an appearance on The Pivot podcast, hosted by former NFL stars Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor, and Channing Crowder, Obama shared insights about Malia’s decision to exclude their famous last name ‘Obama’ in her filmmaking career, opting instead to go by Malia Ann.

Malia, now 26, made her mark in the entertainment industry as a staff writer for the Emmy-nominated Prime show Swarm and recently directed her first short film, The Heart, an 18-minute piece that premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

The film has since gained traction, earning the Young Spirit Award at the Deauville Film Festival in France and the Best Live Action Short prize at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Discussing his daughter’s move, Obama admitted on the podcast released to YouTube Saturday, “Malia, she’s making movies. So she made her first movie. And you know, I’ll be a dad, I’ll brag a little bit … her first film went to Sundance and all these fancy film festivals. And she didn’t use ‘Obama’ as director on the credits, it said ‘Malia Ann.’”

He added, “I was all like, ‘You do know they’ll know who you are.’ 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.’”

Obama noted that this decision reflects a trend among children of public figures who wish to carve out identities separate from their famous parents.

Despite the former president’s pride, he noted, “The challenge for us is letting us give them any help at all. They’re very sensitive about this stuff. They’re very stubborn about it.”

Malia’s work has drawn both praise and scrutiny. At Sundance, some critics labelled her a “nepo baby,” shorthand for “nepotism baby,” pointing out that most emerging filmmakers don’t have the luxury of working with industry titans like Donald Glover, who collaborated with her on Swarm.