Growing up in front of the eyes of the public isn’t something Malia Obama is not familiar with. Being the daughter of the former president of the United States, Barak Obama, she has spent her life under the limelight, and even today, the media is interested in her every move.
The 25-year-old just presented her directorial debut, The Heart, at the Sundance Film Festival. In the Sundance Institute’s “Meet the Artist” spotlight video, Malia Obama revealed she was going by the name Malia Ann, thus ditching her moniker.
Malia, who was born Malia Ann Obama on July 4, 1998, has her middle name honoring her paternal grandmother, who died from ovarian cancer at the age of 52 in 1995, and now, she has dropped her last name in favor of her middle name.
Speaking of the short film for which she served as both director and screenwriter, Malia said. “This is an odd little story, somewhat of fable, about a man grieving the death of his mother after she leaves him an unusual request in her will.” Further, in the YouTube clip of the short film, she wrote, “The film is about lost objects and lonely people and forgiveness and regret, but I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things.”
The Heat isn’t her first attempt into the profession. Previously, the Harvard grad worked in the writers’ room on Donald’s Amazon Prime show Swarm, co-writing the fifth episode, “Girl, Bye.”
“She’s a very professional person,” Swarm‘s co-creator Janine Nabers said Malia in a January 2023 Vanity Fair interview. “She’s an incredible writer and artist. She made significant contributions… She’s very, truly committed to her craft.”
Swarm‘s executive producer Stephen Glover also spoke of Malia. “We can’t be easy on her just because she’s the [former] President’s daughter,” he told Vanity Fair. “No, she is really down-to-earth and cool. So it’s not an issue at all.”
Malia Obama isn’t the first celebrity who made the decision to ditch their family name. Other celebs have done that before, including Nicolas Cage, who changed his last name from Coppola, and Angelina Jolie, who dropped her surname, Voight.
For her directorial debut, Malia looked cozy, with minimal makeup, her curly hair down with small braids scattered throughout.
Michael Jacksoп is ALIVE aпd secretly prepariпg for a MASSIVE COMEBACK, pal Akoп coпfirmed!!! MJ’s prodυcer & stylist agreed too.
He has also claimed he was a close friend of the star towards the end of his life and released the tribute song Cry Out Of Joy after his death.
Jackson’s former stylist and hairdresser Steve Erhardt, who initially wrote a Facebook message to “believers” – the singer’s fans who still cling to the idea he is still alive – in 2017 saying he had a message for them.
The message said: “A tip for the believers, the Michael Jackson believers. You heard it here first, an announcement of sorts.
COMEBACK
“And in a couple of months, or latest at the end of the year, you will be receiving some very good news.
“It’s almost unbelievable. And not even the family knows… but I do.”
Erhardt has never made public exactly what the post referred to.
In June last year he shared another enigmatic post showing only the leg of a man wearing Jacko’s trademark white socks and baggy, short black trousers.
The post said: “In a recording studio, somewhere in the world, in an undisclosed location, he’s coming soon.”
Further fuelling the strange conspiracy theories has been a YouTube channel, “BeLIEve” focused on debating if Jackson is still alive.
In one video, it states: “Michael’s friend, Hollywood hair designer Steve Erhardt, told us last year that he would give good news to Believers (I mean people who believe that Michael Jackson is alive).
“Now he shared something that excited the fans.”
Michael Turegano, who has investigated Jacko’s death for almost a decade, said that Erhardt’s claims should not be dismissed.
He said last year: “He’s been in contact with Michael in the past. So I think we should care what he says.”
Jackson died after suffering a heart attack in 2009 but some people have refused to believe that is really what happened.
His personal physician, Conrad Murray, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter over his death, which was deemed to be a homicide, the Los Angeles County Coroner ruled.
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