opinion
Whoopi Goldberg is defending Malia Obama after the former first daughter dropped her last name at her Sundance Film Festival debut.
Goldberg defends Malia
Malia, 25, recently directed a short film called “The Heart,” but instead of listing her last name in the credits, she chose “Malia Ann,” The Wrap reported. During Wednesday's episode of ABC's 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 it's Obama, why should she care?” “Why does she care what she calls herself,” Goldberg, 68, said. If she wants to call herself Janet MacDonald, she has the right to do so! “If I can be Whoopi Goldberg, she can be whoever she wants to be!”
Goldberg's real name is Karen Elaine Johnson, but she decided to call herself the Whoopee Pillow after her stage name early in her career.
“I mean, why do people get so worked up over this kind of stuff? Why do people waste their time?” Goldberg added.
The backstory: Malia Obama goes to Hollywood — showing her own film at Sundance
'The View' co-hosts weigh in
While Liberal host Joy Behar agreed, she also felt there would be nothing wrong with Malia using her last name.
“It's not like her last name is Nixon,” Behar said. “Her last name has positive vibes around it. So she might as well use it.”
Co-host Alyssa Farrah Griffin said Malia is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don't” situation.
“If you go like Malia Obama, it's like, 'She's riding on her parents' coattails.'” “I can't think of a bigger shadow that you feel like you're living in than the president and first lady of the United States,” Farrah Griffin said, adding that the name change is more acceptable because Malia is doing something outside politics…
“If she was running for Congress in Illinois and she was like, 'I'm running as Malia Ann,' I would say that's too sweet by half, because obviously you're Obama following in Obama's footsteps,” Farrah Griffin explained. “But she does her own thing!”
Check out that full segment in the video below.
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Malia's new movie
The Hollywood Reporter reported that Malia wrote and directed “Heart,” a short film about a grieving son who grapples with an unusual request his mother left him in her will.
“The film is about lost things and lonely people and forgiveness and regret, but I also think it works hard to reveal where tenderness and closeness can be found in those things,” Malia said in a video promoting the film.
“The people who came together to make this film have my heart, pun intended. I am so grateful to them for giving life to this story. We are grateful to Sundance for giving us the opportunity to share it with all of you,” she continued. “We hope you enjoy the film and that it makes you feel less alone or at risk.” At least it reminds you not to forget the people who are there.”
Check out her 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 radically distance herself from her liberal parents. What do you think about dropping Malia's name? Let us know in the comments section.
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