NEWSMichelle Obama Reveals Daughters Malia and Sasha 'Pushed Away' From Her and Barack When They Were Teenagers
Michelle Obama opened up about how her daughters, Malia and Sasha, 'pushed away' from her during their teen years.
Michelle Obama is opening up about a parenting challenge she experienced.
During an appearance on "Sibling Revelry" with hosts Kate and Oliver Hudson, the former first lady and her brother, Craig Robinson, got candid about family life.
Michelle shared that her daughters, Malia and Sasha, hit a phase where they started to distance themselves from her and her husband, Barack Obama.
Michelle Obama said her daughters 'pushed away' from her and Barack Obama during their teen years.
“Where do we begin?” she said. “Our daughters are 26 and 23, they are young adult women. But they definitely went through a period in their teen years…it was the ‘push away.’”
Michelle added that it’s something many kids with famous parents go through.
“They're still doing that, and you guys know this of children with parents who are known,” she said. “You're trying to distinguish yourself. It's very important for my kids to feel like they've earned what they are getting in the world.”
Malia and Sasha Obama wanted to 'earn' things on their own.
The author understood that her kids don’t want to show the public that they benefit from nepotism.
“And they don't want people to assume that they don't want to work hard, that they're just naturally handed things, they're very sensitive to that. They want to be their own people," she noted.
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In fact, Malia even dropped her last name when she premiered her short film at Sundance in 2024.
“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 said.
Despite the growing pains, the Obamas are proud of how grounded their daughters are.
“They understand us as full human beings now in the same way that I discovered that about my parents,” the lawyer said.
Michelle Obama co-hosts a podcast with her brother, Craig Robinson.
While Malia is now building a name for herself in film, Sasha briefly dipped into entertainment, as her name once appeared in the credits for the series Couples Therapy.
More recently, she graduated from the University of Southern California and appears to be continuing her education. Both daughters now live in Los Angeles.
Michelle also opened up about the unique challenge of protecting their privacy during Barack's time in office.
“That was a lot of work,” she told Kelly Ripa during a May 7 episode on "Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa." “And it got harder as they got older.”
Michelle Obama said it was hard to keep her daughters out of the spotlight during Barack Obama's presidency.
Michelle said shielding the girls from the public eye took “a lot of intentionality.”
“When your kids are under the security of the Secret Service, you almost have to work twice as hard to make their life normal,” she explained. “Imagine setting up the first play date… the process meant an advanced team had to come and question and search your house and ask if you had drugs and guns.”
