Michelle Obama says daughter Malia’s name change signals her 'push away' in battle to create own identity
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: After spending their entire lives under the spotlight, Barack Obama and Michelle’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, are taking every right step to carve their own identity.
Reflecting on their journey, the former first lady recently revealed how her daughters are still in battle with trying to separate themselves from their famous parents.
She even claimed her eldest daughter Malia's decision to drop their name was also a part of a "push away" from the Obama family, according to Hello Magazine.
Michelle Obama claims Malia and Sasha are still trying to separate themselves from the Obama family name
The 61-year-old best-selling author discussed her daughters’ battle as she and her brother Craig Robinson made an appearance on the podcast ‘Sibling Revelry’, hosted by fellow famous siblings Kate and Oliver Hudson.
During the podcast, Oliver asked the duo if they had moments with their children where they wanted to emulate their parents while yet wanting to entirely detach from them.
Michelle confirmed that her daughters definitely went through that phase, and still do.
"Where do we begin?" she quipped, adding, "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.'"
"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.”
"And they don't want people to assume that they don't want to work hard, that they're just naturally handed things, they're very sensitive to that. They want to be their own people,” she continued.
Michelle also referenced Malia's decision to drop her last name while debuting her short film ‘The Heart’ at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Professionally, the 26-year-old filmmaker now uses her first and middle name, Malia Ann.
"And we were like, 'They're still going to know it's you, Malia.' But we respected the fact that she's trying to make her way,” Michelle added.
However, the former first lady did state that Malia and Sasha are "embracing" the values she and Barack instilled in them as parents.
"They understand us as full human beings now in the same way that I discovered that about my parents,” she said.
Michelle Obama discusses how keeping Malia and Sasha’s smoking out of tabloids was ‘nightmare’
This came just a few days after Michelle Obama discussed the "nightmare" she faced while trying to keep Malia and Sasha away from the spotlight when they entered their teenage years.
"That was a lot of work," she said during her interview on SiriusXM's 'Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa'.
Malia and Sasha essentially grew up in front of the world, as they were just 10 and 7 years old, respectively, when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008.
Michelle, however, was determined to allow them to grow up like any other child, albeit with a lot more Secret Service collaboration and a little more preparation.
"They had to drive and they had to go to prom and they were on teams and they traveled to other schools and they had to do college searches, and they went to parties and they had drinks, and they tried out smoking and they did all the things," Michelle recalled.
She added, “And every weekend was a nightmare, because we had to work to make sure that them being regular teenagers didn’t wind up on Page Six.”
