Whoopi Goldberg Fiercely Defends Malia Obama’s Stage Name – E! Online

Whoopi Goldberg is showing her support for Malia Obama.

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama‘s oldest daughter raised some eyebrows when it was noted that she is choosing to drop her famous last name and professionally go by Malia Ann on her latest project The Heart.

“Apparently some folks online are criticizing her for it,” the View host said during the Feb. 21 episode, “claiming everyone knows she’s an Obama, so it’s pointless to hide it.”

But, as Whoopi noted, Malia is hardly the first person to change her name Hollywood. In fact, Whoopi herself changed her name from Caryn Elaine Johnson as her career took off.

“If she knows she’s an Obama, why do you care? Why do you care what she calls herself?” she continued. “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!”