Malia Obama, 25, decided to drop her last name when she debuted her short film at the Sundance Film Festival in January, which Whoopi Goldberg, 68, doesn’t think she should be criticized for. The EGOT winner passionately defended Barack and Michelle Obama‘s daughter, who went by Malia Ann at the festival, on the February 21 episode of The View, and blatantly told Malia’s haters to “leave her alone.”
“If she knows she’s an Obama, why do you care?” Whoopi said. “Why do you care what she calls herself? If she wanted to call herself Jeanette MacDonald, she has the right to! If I can be Whoopi Goldberg, she can be whoever the hell she wants to be.” Whoopi was born Caryn Elaine Johnson, but she changed her name when she was getting big in Hollywood.
“I mean why are people triggered by this kind of stuff?” the Sister Act star went on to say on the ABC talk show. “Why are people wasting their time?”
All of Whoopi’s co-hosts chimed in to similarly defend Malia. Joy Behar pointed out that Malia is a Harvard University graduate and has been taking on internships and jobs in the movie industry without the help of her mom and dad.
“This is a grown woman,” Whoopi said. “She is not thinking about her parents.”
Alyssa Farah Griffin noted that Malia would be criticized whether she removed “Obama” from her stage name or not. “If she went as Malia Obama, they’d be like, ‘She’s riding her parents’ coattails.’ I can’t think of a bigger shadow to feel like you’re living in than the President and First Lady of the United States,” Alyssa said. “She’s trying to carve her own course in a new field that she’s been pursuing.”
Whoopi interjected again to give a direct warning to the people criticizing Malia. “Leave this child alone. Leave her alone,” she said.