Michelle Obama's Sassy Response To Malia Ditching Her Last Name For Film Career

After years in the spotlight, Barack Obama's eldest daughter, Malia Obama, has been working hard to strike out on her own. Malia has jumped feet-first into show business, although she's opted to work behind the camera, and has even turned down several modeling opportunities to focus on her passion: filmmaking. Furthermore, she's been trying not to coast on her famous lineage, and establish her own career based on effort and talent.

This is likely why Malia decided to ditch her last name on her debut short film, "The Heart," in 2023. In the credits to the film — which tells the melancholy story of a quiet man who is riddled with guilt and unspoken sorrow following the death of his mother — the former president's daughter is credited simply as "Malia Ann." Many noted this change, including Malia's beloved mom Michelle Obama, and presumed that it was an attempt to avoid the so-called "nepo baby" claims.

"It is very important for my kids to feel like they've earned what they are getting in the world. They don't want people to assume that they don't work hard, that they're just naturally just handed things. They're very sensitive to that," Michelle told Kate Hudson and her brother, Oliver Hudson, during an episode of their "Sibling Rivalry" podcast in June 2025. According to Michelle, this is exactly why her daughter chose to drop her last name. "We were like, 'They're still going to know it's you, Malia,'" Michelle quipped.

While Michelle Obama has admitted to some red flags in her mother-daughter relationship with Malia in the past — and joked that her daughter's name change might not be effective — she still understands Malia's desire to be taken seriously on her own merits. "We respected the fact that she's trying to make her way," Michelle said on the "Sibling Rivalry" podcast. "They want to be their own people."

Meanwhile, Barack Obama shared a similarly snarky sentiment on "The Pivot" podcast in October 2024. He explained how Malia's film "The Heart" was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, among many other high-profile festivals, and he ribbed her over trying to dodge the inevitable nepo baby claims. "I was all like, 'You do know that they'll know who you are, right?'" However, Malia's explanation for the name change actually made a lot of sense.

"She was all like, 'You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association," Barack recalled. "I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage [their name]," Barack added. Malia has certainly been working diligently, making short films and even working on a writing team for the 2023 Prime Video series "Swarm." She seems to have the ambition to overcome any claims of nepotism as she continues to carve her own path.