Gayle King has some thoughts on Malia Obama's decision to change her name professionally – and the CBS anchor thinks the 26-year-old is going to be just fine.
"I think whatever she does is fine, I am very familiar with Malia and her work – I have seen her work, her work is knockout – and I am cheering her on with whatever she does," Gayle told TMZ as she left the CBS offices.
"She is still Malia and still talented, no one can take that away from her."
© Erika GoldringMalia is a screenwriter and budding director, and it was revealed earlier in 2024 that she was going by Malia Ann, her first and middle name, dropping her very famous last name.
Her father, Barack Obama, was President of the United States between 2009 and 2017, and he recently admitted that Malia, and her sister Sasha, are both "very stubborn" about using their last name to their advantage.
© AFP Contributor"The challenge for us is letting us give them any help at all," he said of his daughters while speaking on The Pivot Podcast. "I mean they're very sensitive about this stuff. They're very stubborn about it."
"I was all like, ‘You do know they’ll know who you are?'" he explained. "And she's all like, 'You know what? I want them to watch it [for the] first time and not in any way have that association.' So I think our daughters [will] go out of their way to not try to leverage that."
Gayle has worked closely with Barack and his wife Michelle over the years, including being a guest on Michelle's podcast, The Light.
Both Malia and Sasha now live in Los Angeles, and are working in the entertainment industry, and although they are both now receiving from photographers, he said that he was grateful that during their formative years in the White House they were allowed to lead private lives.
© Joe Raedle"I basically made a deal with the press pool. I said, 'You can follow me around. You can talk about me. You do whatever you need to do. Leave my children alone because they have the right to grow up. They didn’t choose this. Let them grow up.' And to the credit of the press they did leave them alone," he added.
The girls have been enjoying their newfound celebrity, however, including attending Billie Eilish's Halloween party together.
Malia looked effortlessly cool in thigh-high black leather boots, paired with a denim mini skirt, white tank and faux snake wrapped around her neck.
Sasha, 23, kept her outfit hidden but rocked a long black leather coat that fit perfectly with the vibes of the evening.
