How Barack Obama Really Feels About Daughter's Name Change

Barack Obama is addressing his daughter's decision to go by a different name.

The former president, who shares daughters Malia and Sasha with his wife and former first lady, Michelle Obama, recently addressed his firstborn's decision to drop her surname from the credits of her new movie.

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For her debut film, The Heart, which she made with Donald Glover, Malia will divert from her famous family's surname and instead be credited under the name Malia Ann. Ann is Malia's middle name, a tribute to Barack's late mother.

While making an appearance on The Pivot Podcast earlier this week, the former commander-in-chief addressed his daughter's name change, poking a little bit of fun at Malia's decision.

"I was all like, 'You do know they'll know who you are,'" Barack, 63, said in the podcast episode that aired Tuesday, Oct. 29 episode. "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."

"The challenge for [Michelle and me] is letting us give them any help at all," the politician continued. "I mean they're very sensitive about this stuff. They're very stubborn about it."

Both Malia and Sasha were in elementary school when their dad was elected president and their family moved from Chicago to the White House. The two sisters are now living together in Los Angeles, according to People.

While Malia has been busy making her own name in show business, Sasha, 23, graduated in May 2023 from the University of Southern California (USC).

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