Malia Ann Obama, the daughter of the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, isn’t clinging to the family brand. No, she’s rewriting the script. Malia Ann, as she now goes by, spent much of her life under a microscope, so she hasn’t rebranded for clout. At just 10, she moved into the White House with her younger sister, Sasha, and spent the next eight years growing up while the world watched. Think of your awkward teen phase. Now imagine adding press photographers, secret security, the media, and essentially the rest of the world watching your every move.
It’s no surprise, then, that she and her sister, Sasha Obama, moved far from Washington, D.C., taking up residence in Los Angeles instead. The message is clear: Just because you’re born into politics doesn’t mean you have to stay in it. You can tell your own story, just like Malia Ann, who is quietly writing hers off-screen and away from the public eye.
Malia Ann had a fairly normal childhood – at first
Even before she blew out six candles on her birthday cake, Malia Ann was navigating schooling, flute lessons, and an asthma diagnosis, all while her dad climbed the political ladder.
Born on July 4, 1998 (yes, Independence Day), Malia entered the world at the University of Chicago Medical Center. At the time, Barack was juggling his roles as a civil rights attorney, law professor, and state senator. Michelle was holding things down as associate dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago, and, as she later revealed in an interview with “Good Morning America,” managing the emotional toll of a miscarriage and the hopeful journey through IVF to conceive Malia.
Life in the Obama household wasn’t all politics and policy, though. Malia’s early days were filled with soccer, drama class, and playing the flute. She attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a private institution close to home, while her parents did the working-parent hustle. Still, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. At just 4 years old, Barack Obama’s oldest daughter landed in the emergency room. In a 2015 interview with ABC News, the former president said, “Malia had asthma when she was 4 and because we had good health insurance, we were able to knock it out early.” Of course, by 2004, her “normal” childhood started to shift, as Barack was elected to the U.S. Senate. Suddenly, Malia’s world stretched far beyond Chicago.
Malia’s parents tried to keep her upbringing as normal as possible while they lived in the White House
Malia Obama was already rubbing shoulders with history at a young age. At just 6 years old, gap-toothed and grinning, she helped her dad cast his vote in the 2004 Illinois Senate election, a race Barack Obama won by a landslide against Alan Keyes. That night, she was photographed in his arms at the Chicago headquarters, completely unaware that she was about to become one of the most watched kids on the planet.
In 2007, Barack’s presidential run began with a crowd of 17,000 at the Old State Capitol. And standing beside him was his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, who suddenly found themselves on a national stage without ever asking for it. By 2008, when Obama won the presidency, Malia was 10 years old and officially growing up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But the Obamas weren’t about to let the White House turn into a royal palace. “Barack and I did everything we could to give our girls as normal of a life as possible,” Michelle told Harper’s Bazaar in 2025. That meant Malia and her sister making their beds, getting summer jobs, going on school trips, and still having playdates. You know, regular kids’ stuff.
It wasn’t just about shielding them from the cameras. It was about raising daughters who could think for themselves and handle life beyond press conferences and state dinners. And somehow, between campaign trails and presidential speeches, they pulled it off.
She enjoyed the perks of presidency without entitlement
Even with being part of the first family of the United States, Malia Ann was able to lead a relatively private and humble life. A big part of that privacy was thanks to her mom and dad. During an interview on “Today” with Jenna Bush Hager, Michelle Obama revealed that she and the former president made trade-offs with the press to ensure her children were not followed by cameras during her husband’s presidency. “We tried to set up boundaries within their exposure, which is why you would rarely see the girls outside public events,” she said. “There were a set of things where we told the press the girls are going to be here, this is the time. But don’t go to their school.”
Barack also credits his mother-in-law, Marian, and his wife for keeping Malia and Sasha grounded. On “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the former president shared, “Maybe one of my greatest successes, Michelle’s greatest success, in those eight years was raising these great girls, who don’t have an attitude and don’t feel entitled.” Marian helped with school drop-offs, pick-ups, and extracurricular activities. She also helped enforce the household rules their parents had established for the girls.
Still, there are plenty of benefits to being the daughter of the U.S. president, and Malia enjoyed all of them, including the chance to mingle with famous teen celebrities. During her time in the White House, she met everyone from the Jonas Brothers to Justin Bieber.
She experienced teenage milestones like many of her peers
When you’re the daughter of a U.S. president, “normal” probably means something very different. Although Malia Obama was just 10 when she moved into the White House, that didn’t stop her from trying to live like any other teen. She attended school, joined sports teams, went to prom, and learned to drive.
As a child, Malia’s parents regarded her as “wise and thoughtful” as well as “somebody who enjoys people, enjoys life and enjoys conversation” (via People). In 2008, her father shared a lovely anecdote about her good-hearted nature with People, saying, “When [Malia] was 6 years old […] we were walking along the lake, holding hands, and she turned to me and said, ‘Daddy, are we rich?’ I said, ‘We’re very well off compared to a lot of people, but we’re not really rich, as some people might define really rich.’ And she said, ‘Well, that’s good because I don’t want to be really rich. I think I want to live a simple life.’ And I looked at her and wondered, ‘Where did she come up with that?'” Even though she lived in one of the most famous mansions in the world, the president and first lady made every effort to give Malia a balanced life.
Malia Ann is avoiding a career in politics — but she’s staying politically active
While her father was a successful politician, Malia Ann opted to pursue a career outside of politics, becoming a screenwriter and director instead. Her mother may have played an important role in discouraging her from pursuing a political career, as Barack Obama has openly stated that former First Lady Michelle Obama “drilled into them so early that you would be crazy to go into politics” (via ABC News). Still, both Malia and her younger sister have never been fully divorced from politics.
Malia and Sasha have both stayed politically active on causes that they care deeply about. For starters, Malia attended a protest in 2017 to express solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Both also marched in 2020 to protest police brutality following the death of George Floyd.
Their father was very proud of his daughters’ decision to participate in the Black Lives Matter protests. “I didn’t have to give them a lot of advice because they had a very clear sense of what was right and what was wrong and [of] their own agency and the power of their voice and the need to participate,” the former president told People. Malia was reportedly very eager to get involved with the movement after seeing the outrage and calls for change across the country.
Malia started ‘dating around’ in college
As Malia has gotten older, everyone has wanted to know who she is dating or if she is single. Her romantic life has remained relatively obscure over the years. However, her mother revealed in her 2022 book, “The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times,” that her girls have had a few relationships. “Malia and Sasha have been doing precisely what Barack and I were each doing at their age, which is dating around,” she wrote (via Hollywood Life). Although Michelle mentioned no names, Malia has been linked to a few suitors in the media.
In 2017, Malia began dating her classmate, Rory Farquharson. The former first daughter was seen kissing the British law student after an Ivy League football game and photographed walking around New York City together. Barack Obama even revealed in an interview with “The Bill Simmons Podcast” that Malia’s boyfriend stayed with the family for a few weeks during the pandemic (via ABC News).
That relationship appears to have ended, as Malia was reportedly dating Dawit Eklund by 2022. She was spotted out and about with the Ethiopian producer in New York City, although the relationship was never officially confirmed. In 2023, Malia was pictured with American rapper, musician, and songwriter Aminé. While this could simply be a friendship, it hasn’t stopped speculation about a potential romantic connection between the two.
She was caught behaving as a ‘regular teenager’
When Malia was younger, it was easier for her famous parents to keep her out of the spotlight. But as she entered her teenage years, the task of keeping her out of the news proved slightly more challenging for Barack and Michelle Obama. On “Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa,” Michelle opened up about the difficulties of raising the girls in the public eye during those years.”They had drinks, and they tried out smoking, and they did all the things — and every weekend was a nightmare, because we had to work to make sure that them being regular teenagers didn’t wind up on Page Six”, she recalled (via E! Online).
While her parents allowed Malia the freedom to live an everyday teenage life, she still had to deal with being in the spotlight, which unfortunately came with its fair share of public scrutiny and criticism. In 2016, at 18, she made headlines after smoking a joint at Chicago’s annual music festival, Lollapalooza.
Malia has shaken hands with two very different famous people
Not many teens can say they’ve shaken hands with both Ryan Reynolds and the Pope, but Malia Obama can. And she did it all before finishing high school.
In 2015, Pope Francis landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport for his first official visit to the United States. While most people were watching the event unfold on the news, Malia was at the airport, standing alongside her parents, welcoming him in person. And didn’t just get a glimpse – she shook the Pope’s hand.
A year later, in 2016, Malia met another famous figure. She attended her very first White House state dinner, which was hosted in honor of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canadian-born celebrity Ryan Reynolds and his wife, Blake Lively, attended the event, and a photo showed Sasha Obama chatting with Reynolds while Malia stood nearby, grinning and giving her sister a big thumbs up. In the span of a year, Malia went from shaking hands with the pope to being meme’d over her reaction to Ryan Reynolds in two wildly different encounters.
Malia took a gap year before attending Harvard
Before her time at Harvard, Malia Obama decided to take a gap year. In 2016, she used some of her time to travel with her family. In June of that year, she took a 10-day family trip to Indonesia. The former first daughter also got the opportunity to spend 83 days in Central America without her family.
Part of Malia’s trip included an educational hike with other teenagers. The trip was arranged by the Where There Be Dragons travel company for students taking a gap year to examine current political trends and get involved in environmental conservation efforts in the mountains and jungles of Bolivia and Peru, The New York Times reported.
Between these valuable travel experiences, Malia Obama worked with the television studio marketing team at The Weinstein Company in New York. She was involved in reading scripts and determining which ones to submit to executives for consideration.
Malia is making a name for herself as a writer and director
The former first daughter’s work ethic impressed acclaimed Emmy winner Donald Glover. The creator of the 2023 TV series “Storm” asked her to join the writers’ room and gushed about her talent and diligence. “She’s just like, an amazingly talented person,” Glover shared at the season three premiere of “Atlanta” in Los Angeles (via Vanity Fair). “She’s really focused, and she’s working really hard.”
Malia Obama worked with Janine Nabers to write the show’s fifth episode, “Girl, Bye”. But while the episode is Malia’s first professional writing credit, it’s not the only project she has worked on. In 2024, Malia made her directing debut with the short film “The Heart.” The 18-minute short, starring Tunde Adebimpe and Latonya Borsay, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of that year to mixed reviews.
Although Malia wrote and directed the project, Gilga, Donald Glover’s production company, assisted her in bringing her debut film to life. As part of a GQ piece in 2023, Glover shared how he and Malia had a “talk about the fact that she will only get to do this once.” “You’re Obama’s daughter. So if you make a bad film, it will follow you around.”
She ditched her famous last name
Since graduating from Harvard University in 2021, Malia Obama has been concentrating on crafting her own path without the help of her famous last name. For her directorial debut in 2024, she dropped her last name altogether, deciding to use only her first and middle names in the credits.
On “The Pivot Podcast” in 2024, Barack Obama shared that both of his daughters will “go out of their way to not try to leverage” the Obama name. Even with Malia’s decision not to use her surname, critics nevertheless referred to her as a “nepo baby.” One critic of her short film even commented (via The Independent), “Calling yourself ‘Malia Ann’ is not going to avert any nepo baby criticisms, Miss Former First Daughter.”
Despite opinions, Malia has continued to use her stage name for her ever-growing list of credits, which now also includes an ad video she created for Nike to highlight WNBA star Asia Wilson’s A1.
Malia has gotten surprisingly close to her sister over the years
Having shared the unique experience of growing up in front of the entire country, we’re not surprised to find that the Obama sisters share a tight bond. But according to their dad, it wasn’t always the case.
In a 2020 interview with People, the former president discussed how the relationship between the former first daughters has evolved. “I think part of what’s been also wonderful is seeing Malia and Sasha become such great friends,” he said. “They’ve got a three-year gap between them, and when one is 16 and the other one’s 13, there’s still that sister competition.”
As the girls have grown older, their relationship has only improved, and they now live together in LA and enjoy a close friendship that makes their father proud. “Now they’re both old enough, where they just enjoy each other’s company,” Barrack added.
In her late 20s, Malia is still ‘not looking’ for fame
Although Malia is pursuing a career in the entertainment industry, she is by no means looking for fame. In an episode of iHeartRadio’s “Sibling Revelry” podcast with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson, Michelle Obama discussed how her two girls are still trying to distance themselves from the name “Obama” and carve out their own paths.
“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.'” She went on to say, “They’re still doing that, and you guys know this of children with parents who are known. 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.” As for Malia, part of her distinguishing herself after college has been embracing a new look with long red tresses — a style that definitely works for her.
Michelle also added that Malia and Sasha “want to be their own people.” Malia Ann doesn’t want anyone to think she didn’t achieve her success on her own merit or that she was handed opportunities because of her famous parents. She’s making her own way in the world. And at 27, she’s just getting started.
