Michelle Obama has opened up about how her two daughters are continuing to separate themselves from their well-known parents.
The former First Lady and her older brother Craig Robinson appeared on Monday’s episode of the Sibling Revelry podcast with Kate Hudson and her brother Oliver Hudson. Michelle discussed her oldest daughter Malia’s decision not to include her last name on the credits of her directorial debut.
“Where do we begin?” Michelle said. “Our daughters are 26 and 23, they are young adult women. But they definitely went through a period in their teen years…it was the ‘push away.’”
She continued: “They’re still doing that, and you guys know this of children with parents who are known. You’re trying to distinguish yourself. It’s very important for my kids to feel like they’ve earned what they are getting in the world.”
Michelle said that her children want to make sure people don’t assume they don’t work hard or are “handed things” because of who their parents are. “They want to be their own people,” she said.
The mother of two then referenced Malia’s directorial debut at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival with The Heart. However, instead of the film’s credits listing her as Malia Obama, she used her first and middle name, Malia Ann.
“We were like, ‘They’re still going to know it’s you, Malia,’” she recalled telling her daughter. “But we respected the fact that she’s trying to make her way.”
Michelle’s husband, Barack Obama, has also previously discussed Malia’s decision to leave off her last name in film credits during an appearance on The Pivot Podcastback in October 2024.
At the time, he said he wasn’t surprised by her choice. “The challenge for us is letting us give them any help at all,” he said about both Malia and his 23-year-old daughter, Sasha. “I mean they’re very sensitive about this stuff. They’re very stubborn about it.”
Despite Malia wanting to separate herself from the family name professionally, her father reminded her that people may still recognize her regardless.
“I was all like, ‘You do know they’ll know who you are,’” Barack said on the podcast. “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.’ So I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that.”
However, as the Obama children have grown up, they have received more and more media attention.
“Now, as they’ve gotten older, there’s been some paparazzi stuff going on, and it drives them nuts,” the former president said. “Their attitude is, ‘We’re not looking for all that.’ So they’re grounded.”
