Barack Obama reveals why Malia dropped her last name professionally; 'They're very sensitive about this stuff'

Barack Obama is opening up about a much-discussed topic. Earlier this year his eldest daughter Malia Obama released her first film. The short, titled "The Heart," premiered at various film festivals with her opting to use Malia Ann as her professional name.

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In an appearance on a podcast, Obama opened up about his daughters and their decision to drop his name in order to pursue their professional endeavors. “Her first film went to Sundance and all these fancy film festivals and she didn’t use ‘Obama’ as a director on the credits,” he said in an episode of "Pivot." 

“I was all like, ‘You do know they’ll know who you are.'”

Obama revealed that Malia wanted audience members to watch the film for the first time without making the connection to her family name. “And she’s all like, ‘You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association,'” he said. 

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His youngest daughter, Sasha Obama, appears to be following in her sister's footsteps. While this hasn't been confirmed, a Natasha Obama was credited as a casting interviewer for the successful reality TV show "Couples Therapy." That's Sasha's birthname. 

Obama continued to explain that Malia and Sasha try their hardest to find work due to their own merits and not their parents' status. “I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that,”  he said. 

“The challenge for us is letting us give them any help at all,” he continued. “I mean they’re very sensitive about this stuff. They’re very stubborn about it.”

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Sasha and Malia's Halloween plans in Los Angeles

A couple of days ago, Sasha and Malia celebrated Halloween together in Los Angeles. The sisters, who are close and share the same group of friends, decided to party in cowboy-inspired outfits. The pair attended The Bird Streets Club, a celebrity hub business, where they hung out with various notorious celebrities, including Tobey Maguire, Benji Madden, Brooks Nader, and Scottie Pippen. 

You can check out some photos of their look by clicking on this link.