Opinion
Whoopi Goldberg is defending Malia Obama after the former first daughter dropped her last name for her directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival.
Goldberg defends Malia
The Wrap reported that Malia, 25, recently directed a short film called “The Heart,” but instead of including her last name in the credits, she was called “Malia Ann.” During Wednesday’s episode of the ABC talk show “The View,” Goldberg was quick to defend Barack and Michelle Obama’s daughter from the backlash she received for dropping her famous last name.
“She knows she’s an Obama, why do you care?” said Goldberg, 68. “Why do you care what his name is? If she wanted to be called Jeanette McDonald, she had the right to do so! If I can be Whoopi Goldberg, she can be whoever the hell she wants to be!
Goldberg’s real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson, but early in her career she decided to call herself Screaming Pillow as her stage name.
“I mean, why are people triggered by this kind of thing? Why do people waste time?” – added Goldberg.
Backstory: Malia Obama goes to Hollywood – screens her film at Sundance
“The View” co-hosts weigh in
While liberal co-host Joy Behar agreed, she also felt there would be nothing wrong if Malia used her last name.
“It’s not like his last name is Nixon,” Behar said. “His last name has great vibes around it. So she might as well use it.
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin chimed in to say that Malia is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.
“If she dressed like Malia Obama, they’d say, ‘She’s riding her parents’ wave.’ And I can’t think of a bigger shadow to feel like I live in than the president and first lady of the United States,” Farah Griffin said, adding that the name change is more acceptable because Malia is doing something outside of politics.
“If she ran for congress in Illinois and said ‘I’m running as Malia Ann,’ I would say that’s too nice, you’re obviously an Obama following in Obama’s footsteps,” Farah Griffin explained. “But he’s doing his own thing!”
Watch the entire segment in the video below.
Related: Michelle Obama says she worries about her daughters every time they get in the car because they’re black
Malia’s new film
The Hollywood Reporter said Malia wrote and directed “The Heart,” a short film about a grieving son dealing with an unusual request his mother left him in her will.
“The film is about lost objects, lonely people, forgiveness and regret, but I also think it’s difficult to discover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things,” Malia said in a video promoting the film.
“The people who came together to make this movie have my heart, pun intended. And I’m incredibly grateful to them for bringing this story to life. And we’re grateful to Sundance for giving us the opportunity to share it with all of you,” he continued. “We hope you enjoy the film and that it makes you feel a little less alone or at least reminds you not to forget the people who are .”
Check out his full comments in the video below.
While it’s unclear why Malia chose to drop her last name for this project, we certainly wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to distance herself from her radically liberal parents. What do you think about Malia’s name dropping? Let us know in the comments section.
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