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On the June 2 episode of the Sibling Revelry podcast, hosts Kate and Oliver Hudson were joined by Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, where the duo shared insights on raising their children.
During the podcast, the former first lady of the U.S. explained how her daughters went through a phase in their teenage life, distancing themselves from their parents.
"I mean, you know, I think especially, our daughters are 25 and 23. They are young adult women, but they definitely went through a period in their teen years where it was the push away, you know?" Michelle said.
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She explained that her daughters, Malia, 25, and Sasha, 23, wanted to create an identity for themselves, as they did not want people to assume they were handed everything as children of well-known parents.
"It's very important for my kids to feel like they've earned what they are getting in the world. And they don't want people to assume that they don't work hard, that they're just naturally handed things. They're very sensitive to that," she said.
Michelle further revealed that her older daughter, Malia, changed her last name when she started in the entertainment industry to avoid special treatment and "make her way" in the industry.
According to ABC News, Malia switched her last name "Obama" to her middle name "Ann" for the credits of The Heart, a short film she directed and wrote, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024.
"They wanna be their own people. You know, Malia, who started in film, I mean, her first project, she took off her last name. And we were like, they're still gonna know it's you, Malia," Michelle Obama said.
Michelle shared that she and Barack Obama respected Malia's decision to change her last name, as their daughter had been trying to establish herself.
"Craig was crazy strict"—Michelle Obama reflects on Craig Robinson's parenting style
Elsewhere in the podcast, Michelle Obama's brother Craig Robinson said that he was a head men's basketball coach at Oregon State University when Michelle and Barack were serving in the White House. He stated that he had to be stricter towards his children, since he was also responsible for the 15 others he was coaching.
"If my kids were out doing something crazy, then not only do I have to adjudicate that, then I have to also answer to the 15 kids who I'm coaching, who I was strict on too, right? So it was a little bit different for me," he said.
Reflecting on Robinson's statement, Michelle said:
"Oh, you were strict. Craig was crazy strict."
Robinson shared that he was always conscious of how he portrayed himself to the public, explaining that he did not want to embarrass the family, which ultimately made him a stricter parent. Craig further acknowledged that he used his father's morals to guide his parenting approach.
"He [his father] said, if you try and be friends with [my children] young, then I got to parent [them] for a longer period of time," he said.
Michelle Obama further shared that their kids were now more supportive of the actions they took as parents in raising them.
"They have a clear understanding of why we did a lot of what we did," she said.
Meanwhile, the Sibling Revelry podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeart.
