Former President Barack Obama has commented on his daughter Malia’s decision to drop their world-famous surname in order to pursue a career as a filmmaker on her own.
Malia (26) took the plunge into filmmaking and stunned the audience with her debut picture, The Heart, at the Sundance picture Festival in February 2024, sharing the spotlight with the Irish language treasure Kneecap.
She chose the name Malia Ann for the big reveal in order to avoid being labeled as a ‘Nepo baby’. Her father, Barack Obama, was not surprised by the move; he said on The Pivot Podcast that his daughters are fiercely independent, and that he supports them in making a reputation for themselves, just as he and Michelle did.
“The challenge for us is letting us give them any help at all,” he told me. “I mean, they’re quite sensitive about this. They’re pretty obstinate about it.
He went on to say, “I was like, ‘You do realize they’ll know who you are. And she says, ‘You know what? I want them to watch it for the first time and not associate it with anything. So I believe our daughters go out of their way to avoid using it.”
Higher Ground Productions is more than simply a passion project; it is mom and dad’s own film company, founded in 2018, that has produced some hits, including the Irish mystery series Bodkin. What about Obama? He couldn’t help but gloat that Malia’s work was doing well at “all these fancy film festivals.”
Despite their constant presence in the spotlight, he and Michelle have been clear about their desire for their daughters, Malia and her 24-year-old sister Sasha, to live as free of the celebrity shadow as possible.
“I basically made a deal with the press pool,” Obama said, reflecting on his presidency. “I said, ‘You can follow me around.'” You can chat about me. You do what you have to do. Leave my children alone because they deserve to grow up. They did not chose this. Let them grow up. To the credit of the press, they left them alone.”
