Barack and Michelle Obama's daughters Malia and Sasha Obama have grown up under the microscope their entire lives, and are now aiming to forge their own identities.
Malia, 26, is now a writer and filmmaker, who premiered her short film at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 and debuted an ad she made for Nike earlier this year.
Sasha, 23, briefly made a foray into the entertainment industry as well, with her name appearing in the credits for the series Couples Therapy, but she is now seemingly pursuing higher education after graduating from the University of Southern California in 2023. Both sisters live in Los Angeles.
© InstagramMichelle, 61, and her brother and IMO co-host Craig Robinson made an appearance on the podcast Sibling Revelry, hosted by fellow famous siblings Kate and Oliver Hudson.
Oliver asked the brother and sister whether they experienced moments with their children simultaneously expressing a desire to emulate their parents while also wanting to separate themselves from them completely, and Michelle confirmed that her daughters definitely went through that phase, and still do.
"Where do we begin?" she quipped. "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.'"
© Getty Images"They're still doing that, and you guys know this of children with parents who are known," she continued. "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."
Michelle also referenced Malia's decision to drop her last name while debuting her short film at Sundance. "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."
© Getty ImagesThe former First Lady did say, however, that as they've gotten older, Malia and Sasha are "embracing" the principles she and Barack imbibed in them as parents, plus their actions when they were younger. "They understand us as full human beings now in the same way that I discovered that about my parents."
Recently on Amy Poehler's podcast Good Hang, Michelle also spoke about the conflicted feelings of having her daughters not often take on her advice and wisdom. "The girls [say to me], 'You know, you're telling everybody things. You tell us [things] every day…you're kind of making sense.'"
© Getty ImagesShe joked: "You know, every now and then I make a good point to them. And I was like, do you know who I am? I'm Michelle Obama. People line up for my advice and you, you're walking away like I'm stupid."
The Becoming author compared it to her late mother Marian Robinson, who was a wealth of wisdom for most people in her orbit. "We felt special in her presence. There would be a lot of people who would try to dim the light that she was pouring into us."
