Whoopi Goldberg Fiercely Defends Malia Obama’s Dropping Her Last Name
Whoopi Goldberg Fiercely Defends Malia Obama’s Dropping Her Last Name
Whoopi Goldberg defended Malia Obama after the former first daughter was trolled for ditching her famous last name to promote her first short film project. The eldest daughter of former President Barack Obama decided to go by the name Malia Ann, in her directorial debut.
“Apparently some folks online are criticizing her for it, claiming everyone knows she’s an Obama, so it’s pointless to hide it,” Goldberg said on Wednesday’s “The View.”
“If she knows she’s an Obama, why do you care? 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!” the moderator declared, inviting applause from her co-hosts and the studio audience.
The 68-year-old went on to say that she did not understand why people were “triggered” by Malia’s decision to use only her middle name while promoting “The Heart,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
The View co-host, Sara Haines, praised Malia, 25, for creating her own “little wedge,” to which Goldberg added — “This is a grown woman! She is not thinking about her parents!”
Alyssa Farah Griffin, 34, surmised that Malia was in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario.
“If she went as Malia Obama, it’d be, ‘She’s riding her parent’s coattails,’ and 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. She’s trying to carve her own course in a new field that she’s been pursuing,” she asserted.
Goldberg repeated her push for the public to “leave this child alone — leave her alone!”
Sunny Hostin pointed out that Malia was likely dodging accusations of nepotism by dropping her last name.
The 55-year-old said—“She says, ‘No, I want to make it on my own.’ Isn’t that what people want? Pick yourself up by the bootstraps, do your own thing, don’t cash in on your name.”
The Sister Act actress agreed and informed critics that they had “too much time” on their hands.
“You wanna be worried about something? Worry about who’s running for president. Worry about that! This girl is a filmmaker, and she’s doing her own thing,” Goldberg said.
She added — “I don’t understand why people feel the need to crush other people’s dreams,” she added. “You know, when people do that to you, it crushes you. Can you stop?!”
Goldberg concluded her remarks by encouraging fans to focus on more pressing matters rather than the budding filmmaker.
In 1984, Goldberg explained in an interview with the Washington Post why she decided to keep her “personal life personal” by using a stage name rather then her real name, Caryn Elaine Johnson.
“I’m protecting my family,” she said at the time. “As it is now, I can go home and live as this other person, and even though I might look like Whoopi Goldberg on the street, I can whip out my driver’s license and say, ‘Hey, but I’m not.’”
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