Michelle has been speaking on a recent podcast after Malia’s name change
Michelle Obama has revealed what she really thinks after her daughter Malia opted to change her name as she released her first film project.
When Michelle was the first lady, it was pretty difficult to garner a true understanding of the family life of the Obamas.
But since the 44th POTUS left the White House in early 2017, Michelle in particular has spoken out about what life was like before, during and after the family’s stint in Washington DC.
And a lot has changed since the Obamas left the Oval Office some eight years ago, including their daughter Malia recently dropping the famed surname.
Malia, 26, used her middle name, Ann, as her last name for the credits of The Heart, a short film she wrote and directed.
Michelle and Malia pictured in 2017 (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Michelle has since spoken out after this name change became public knowledge, telling actors Kate and Oliver Hudson in an episode of their Sibling Revelry podcast: “Our daughters [Malia and Sasha] are 26 and 23. They are young adult women, but they definitely went through a period in their teen years where it was the push away … [where] you’re trying to distinguish yourself.
“I mean, it is 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 work hard, that they’re just naturally, just handed things. They’re very sensitive to that, they want to be their own people.”
The former first lady added: “Malia, who started in film, I mean, her first project – she took off her last name, 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.”
Michelle’s two children grew up in the White House environment, with Michelle admitting they didn’t really understand their parents’ positions back then.
Malia has changed her name (Foc Kan/WireImage)
But now they are all grown up, that has all changed.
Michelle added: “As they’re older, I think they are embracing our parenting principles. They have a clearer understanding of why we did a lot of what we did.
“They understand us as full human beings now, in the same way that I think I discovered that about my parents when I went away to college.”
Barack Obama has also touched on his daughter’s name change, speaking on The Pivot Podcast of Malia’s success in film.
“[Malia’s] first film went to Sundance and all these fancy film festivals, and she didn’t use Obama as director on the credits,” the former president told host Ryan Clark.
“She’s all like, ‘You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association [with the Obama name].’ So I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that.”Featured Image Credit: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: Barack Obama
Published 15:04 1 May 2025 GMT+1
Michelle Obama reveals she used to ‘spank’ her children before coming to ‘embarrassing’ realization
Michelle Obama has been speaking about parenthood on a recent podcast
Michelle Obama has revealed she used to ‘spank’ her children before coming to the ‘embarrassing’ realization it doesn’t do anything for discipline.
Particularly when Michelle was the first lady, it was pretty difficult to garner an understanding on the family life of the Obamas.
But since the 44th POTUS left the White House in early 2017, Michelle, in particular, has spoken out about what life was like before, during and after the family’s stint in Washington DC.
In a recent episode of her podcast IMO with brother Craig Robinson, Michelle revealed she sometimes spanked daughters Malia and Sasha when they were not behaving – something the former first lady now regrets.
Michelle Obama has revealed she used to ‘spank’ her children (Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)
“I felt silly. It took a couple of spankings for me to be like, ‘yeah, you know what? I don’t want to do this anymore,'” she said.
“I felt like, you know, this is a little kid. And the fact that I can’t think of any better way to get my point across than to smack somebody on the butt – I felt embarrassed.”
Michelle went on to say she feels as though many parents nowadays are ‘trying to live their kids’ lives for them so that they don’t make any mistakes and don’t feel any sense of failure which keeps them from learning’.
She continued: “I want to be a proponent for reinstating some of the stuff that we had. You know, parents are too afraid to set those kinds of boundaries. And I think that’s also part of the challenge that we’re facing in this generation.”
As Malia and Sasha were the daughter of the US president, it was difficult for the Obamas to keep them out of the news – something Michelle has touched on recently.
The Obamas pictured in 2016 (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Speaking on the Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, the 61-year-old said: “That was a lot of work and it got harder as they got older.
“They had to drive and they had to go to prom and they were on teams and they traveled to other schools and they had to do college searches, and they went to parties and they had drinks, and they tried out smoking and they did all the things.”
Michelle continued: “Every weekend was a nightmare. Because we had to work to make sure that them being regular teenagers didn’t wind up on Page Six.”
Malia was just ten at the time President Obama took office, while Sasha was seven.
The pair spent much of their childhood living in the White House.Featured Image Credit: Marcus Ingram/Getty Image
Topics: Barack Obama, Parenting
Obama makes surprising marriage admission amid Michelle divorce rumors
Barack and Michelle Obama married in 1992
Barack Obama has made a surprising marriage admission regarding his relationship with Michelle Obama.
The Obamas tied the knot in 1992, with the pair moving into the White House in 2009 and staying until 2017 upon the conclusion of Obama’s time as president.
The former president has previously said that his long run in office put a strain on his marriage with the former first lady, while speculation surrounding their marriage has been prevalent for years – with some rumors online even being spread about divorce.
Obama, the 44th POTUS, appeared at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York on Thursday (April 4) to discuss many topics, including his views on Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Barack and Michelle Obama married in 1992 (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The 63-year-old confirmed he was in the midst of finishing the second half of his presidential memoirs and used the platform to speak out about America’s gun laws.
And according to the Daily Beast, Obama even spoke about his marriage to Michelle while speaking to College President Steven Tepper.
“I was in a deep deficit with my wife,” the former president said. “So I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things.”
Michelle is certainly not afraid to speak about the pair’s marriage, and has previously detailed one annoying thing about her husband she had to learn to deal with over the years.
Speaking on her podcast, IMO, Michelle admitted her husband struggled with this one thing throughout their relationship.
She said: “Barack, you know, he had to adjust to what ‘on time’ was for me.”
Joking about his Hawaiian roots, she added: “Because he was on that island time.”
The pair are not afraid to speak about their marriage in the public eye (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Michelle went on to explain that Obama would start getting ready at the time they were meant to be leaving.
“You know, I’ve got this husband who’s like, when it’s time to leave, it’s 3, he’s getting up and going to the bathroom,” the former first lady added.
“And I was like, dude, dude, a 3 o’clock departure means you’ve done all that, you know? It’s like, don’t start looking for your glasses, you know, at the 3 o’clock departure.”
Apparently, Obama’s punctuality has improved over the years, according to Michelle.
Over their 30 years of marriage, Michelle admitted the former president’s time keeping has improved and noted that their two daughters, Malia and Sasha, know to arrive early if they are doing anything with her.
Obama seemingly didn’t manage his time keeping during his time in the White House however, with the Washington Post revealing in 2014 that Obama was over 35 hours late to his scheduled engagements.Featured Image Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Topics: Barack Obama, Politics
Obama takes brutal swipe at Donald Trump after he paused $2,300,000,000 in Harvard funding
Barack Obama has voiced his discontent at the Trump administration once more after the president got into a row with Harvard University
There’s no doubt that Barack Obama is not Donald Trump’s biggest fan, but the former president’s most recent dig at the White House’s current occupant is the most brutal yet.
The 44th POTUS has very different political views to Republican president Trump – so it’s hardly a surprise Obama has called out Trump’s policies on multiple occasions.
“I have deep differences of opinion with my most immediate successor — who’s now president once again,” Obama said during a speech at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, earlier this month.
“There are a host of policies that we could be discussing where I have strong opinions,” Obama continued, stating how he believes the government’s commitment to strong principles has ‘eroded’.
Barack Obama is hardly Donald Trump’s biggest fan (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
Since that speech, the education department has frozen a whopping $2.3 billion in federal funds to Harvard University after the famed college rejected a list of demands set out by the Trump administration.
The White House say the demands, which were sent to Harvard in a letter last week, were designed to fight antisemitism on campus – with changes to hiring, admissions and teaching on the agenda.
Essentially, the educational institution would cede a large amount of control to the government if it had agreed to Trump’s demands, which included points such as ensuring the university will ‘make organizational changes to ensure full transparency and cooperation with all federal regulators’ and urging the school to ‘immediately shutter all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices, committees, positions, and initiatives, under whatever name, and stop all DEI-based policies’.
Harvard rejected the proposal on Monday (April 14), claiming the White House is trying to take ‘control’ of the college and the wider community.
“Although some of the demands outlined by the government are aimed at combating antisemitism, the majority represent direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” Harvard president Alan Garber said.
Obama has now weighed into the debate and has taken a brutal swipe at Trump in the process.
Protests took place against Trump’s demands (Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The former president wrote on Twitter: “Harvard has set an example for other higher-ed institutions – rejecting an unlawful and ham-handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let’s hope other institutions follow suit.”
In response to Havard’s rejection, the Department of Education said: “Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation’s most prestigious universities and colleges.”
Elsewhere in the letter, the Trump administration called for reforms on ‘merit-based’ admissions and hiring policies, as well as a ban on face masks, which appeared to be aimed at pro-Palestinian protesters on campus.
Harvard has said it is taking measures to tackle antisemitism on campus, but that this wouldn’t be achieved through ‘assertions of power, unmoored from the law, to control teaching and learning at Harvard and to dictate how we operate’.Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Spencer Platt
Topics: Barack Obama, Donald Trump, US News, Politics
Updated 12:53 7 Apr 2025 GMT+1Published 12:51 7 Apr 2025 GMT+1
Why Obama and Kamala Harris both agree Donald Trump is leading presidency with ‘fear’
Donald Trump has ruffled a few feathers amongst Democrats in recent months
Considering Barack Obama and Kamala Harris associate themselves with the same political party, it’s hardly surprising they are in agreement regarding their thoughts on Donald Trump.
But the former president and vice president have both expressed their feelings that Trump is leading presidency with ‘fear’ – but why is that?
The 47th POTUS announced a 10 percent ‘baseline’ tax would apply globally – with higher rates for a 60-strong country list dubbed as Trump’s ‘worst offenders’.
The new tariffs came during a White House Rose Garden Address on Wednesday (April 2) in what Trump dubbed ‘Liberation Day’ for the United States.
Obama and Harris have largely remained quiet since election day, but they have both been speaking in recent days about Trump.
Obama supporting Harris’ presidential bid prior to the election (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
In a speech at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, on Thursday (April 3), Obama said: “Look, I don’t think what we just witnessed in terms of economic policy and tariffs is going to be good for America, but that’s a specific policy. I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech.
“I am more troubled by the idea that a White House can say to law firms, ‘If you represent parties that we don’t like, we’re going to pull all our business or bar you from representing people effectively.’ That kind of behavior is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans.”
Harris, who fought against Trump in the 2024 US presidential race, was also heard speaking on Thursday – suggesting the White House is contributing to a ‘sense of fear’.
“What has changed is that there is a sense of fear that has been taking hold in our country, and I understand it,” the Democrat politician said.
Obama and Harris have both been speaking about Trump (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“But we’re seeing people stay quiet. We are seeing organizations stay quiet. We are seeing those who are capitulating to clearly unconstitutional threats, and these are the things that we are witnessing each day in these last few months in our country.”
Harris continued: “When one person, when a few stand with the courage, that is the courage exhibited by the leaders in this room every day.
“To have the courage to say I feel fear, the courage to say what is happening is wrong, the courage to say that there is a way that we must chart to get through this.
“Understanding our power in the democracy that we still have if we hold on to it.
“Courage is contagious.”Featured Image Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, US News, Politics
