Whoopi Goldberg has defended Malia Obama's decision to ditch her famous last name for her creative projects.
Last month, the eldest daughter of former US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama premiered her first short film, the heartat the Sundance Film Festival.
The 18-minute short film stars Tunde Adebimpe and Latonya Borsay, written and directed by the 25-year-old. However, instead of being credited as Malia Obama, she chose to use her first and middle name: Malia Ann.
Her decision has been criticized by critics who see the switch as an attempt to try and protect herself from any “nebo baby” stigma.
Addressing naysayers in the last episode of the view“She knows she's like Obama,” Whoopi said, “why do you care about her?
“Why does she care what she calls herself? If she wants to call herself Janet MacDonald, she has the right to! If I can be Whoopi Goldberg, she can be whoever she wants to be!”
Whoopi Goldberg and Malia Obama
(Getty Images)
Goldberg's real name is Karen Elaine Johnson. However, in the early years of her career, the comedian renamed herself professionally after the whoopee pillow, she revealed in 1997. playbill interview.
“I mean, why do people get so worked up over this kind of stuff? Why do people waste their time?” She said.
While Goldberg's co-host Joy Behar mostly agreed, she added, “It's not like her last name is Nixon. Her last name has positive vibes around it. So she might as well use it.”
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Host Alyssa Farrah Griffin considered Behar's comment before saying: “Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
“If you go like Malia Obama, they're like, ‘She's riding on her parents' coattails.’ And I can't think of a bigger shadow to feel like you're living in than the president of the United States and the first lady.”
the heart The film is about a grieving man who receives an unusual request from his mother in her will. The film is also about “lost things, lonely people, forgiveness and regret,” Malia said in a “Meet the Artist” video from the festival. “But I also think it's hard to discover where there can be tenderness and closeness in these things.”
Before beginning her directing career, Malia worked as a writer on Donald Glover's Prime Video series swarm. She also worked as an intern on the HBO series girlsIn addition to a production assistant on TV series ExistingStarring Halle Berry.
. “Professional creator. Lifelong thinker. Reader. Beer buff. Troublemaker. Evil problem solver.”