*Malia Obama’s new stage name may rub some people the wrong way, but Whoopi Goldberg is not one of them. The EGOT winner came to Malia’s defense during a recent episode of “The View,” voicing her support of the monicker switch while questioning the first daughter’s critics.
“She knows she’s an Obama, why do you care?” asked Goldberg, whose real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson. “Why do you care what she calls herself? If she wanted to call herself Jeanette McDonald, she has the right to! If I can be Whoopi Goldberg, she can be whoever the hell she wants to be! I mean, why are people triggered by this kind of stuff? Why are people wasting their time?”
Goldberg’s comments come after Malia, the oldest daughter of former US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, premiered her debut short film, “The Heart,” at the Sundance Film Festival in January. The 25-year-old first daughter wrote and directed the 18-minute feature, which stars Tunde Adebimpe and Latonya Borsay. Instead of crediting herself as Malia Obama, she chose to go by her first and middle names: Malia Ann, according to The Independent.
The name change attracted naysayers who saw the action as Malia’s attempt to shield herself from being labeled a “nepo baby.”
Malia Ann Obama – Getty
“’The Heart’ is about a grieving man who receives an unusual request from his mother in her will. It is also “about lost objects and lonely people and forgiveness and regret”, Malia teased in a “Meet the Artist” video from the festival. “But I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things.”
‘The Heart” marks Malia’s latest foray into the entertainment industry. Prior to her directorial debut, she interned on the HBO series “Girls,” worked as a writer on the Donald Glover’s Prime Video series “Swarm and served as a production assistant on the TV series Extant, which starred Halle Berry.
In addition to Goldberg, her fellow “View” co-hosts Joy Behar and Alyssa Farah Griffin shared their thoughts.
“It’s not like her last name is Nixon,” said Behar, who mostly agreed with Goldberg. “Her last name has great vibes around it. So she might as well use it.”
“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t Griffin added, after taking in Behar’s comment.
Whoopi Goldberg attends the 2021 ACE Awards at Cipriani 42nd Street on November 02, 2021 in New York City.
(Nov. 1, 2021 – Source: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images North America)
“If she went as Malia Obama, they’d be like ‘She’s riding her parents’ coattails.’ And I can’t think of a bigger shadow to feel like you’re living in than the president and first lady of the United States.”
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