The Biggest Rumors About Sasha And Malia Obama

From the outside looking in, it might seem like Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's biggest achievement is making history as president and first lady of the United States. But if you ask them, they'd probably say their proudest role is being parents to Malia Obama and Sasha Obama — their pride and joy. Unfortunately, the couple has also experienced the frustration of being unable to protect their daughters from the rumor mill's relentless churning. 

Over the years, Barack and Michelle have gushed about their daughters, never missing an opportunity to express just how lucky they feel to be their parents. "I love our daughters more than anything in the world ― more than life itself. And while that may not be the first thing that some folks want to hear from an Ivy-league-educated lawyer, it is truly who I am. So for me, being Mom-in-Chief is, and always will be, job number one," Michelle said at a commencement address. Barack, of course, shared the same sentiment. "I'm inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man," he writes in his book "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream."

With such dedicated parents, it's no surprise that Malia and Sasha grew up to be grounded, scandal-free, and determined to carve out their own paths — despite growing up in the White House. They've kept a low profile and have done everything in their power to avoid the media circus that often surrounds political families. But that hasn't stopped the internet from dragging them into some truly absurd rumors over the years.

Of all the bizarre conspiracy theories floating around the internet, one of the most ridiculous is the claim that Sasha Obama and Malia Obama aren't actually Barack Obama and Michelle's biological children. As with most fact-free nonsense, this one was spread widely through a random Facebook post, which insisted that the former first couple had rented their daughters from someone else. "Anita Blanchard & Martin Nesbitt are the REAL parents of Sasha and Malia," the post claimed.

There's no truth to this, of course. Barack and Michelle have been raising their daughters since birth, and Blanchard and Nesbitt? Just close family friends. In fact, Blanchard, an obstetrician-gynecologist, was the doctor who delivered Sasha and Malia. Michelle has also been very open about her journey to motherhood, including the struggles she and Barack faced while trying to conceive. In "Becoming," she details how she experienced pregnancy loss before seeking outside intervention. "We were trying to get pregnant and it wasn't going well," she writes. "We had one pregnancy test come back positive, which caused us both to forget every worry and swoon with joy, but a couple of weeks later I had a miscarriage, which left me physically uncomfortable and cratered any optimism we felt." She has also addressed the pressure of starting a family in her mid-30s. "I realized that as I was 34 and 35," she told "Good Morning America" in 2018. "We had to do IVF."

So, no, Sasha and Malia weren't rented, borrowed, or mysteriously placed in the Obama household. They're exactly who Michelle and Barack say they are — because facts still matter, even if Facebook posts pretend otherwise.

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama love to hype up how well-behaved and accomplished their daughters are. And since Sasha Obama and Malia Obama are notoriously private, we pretty much have to take their parents' word for it. But that hasn't stopped the internet from running wild with absurd claims about the sisters — including the completely made-up story that Sasha was expelled from school for delivering a "racist anti-white rant" in class.

This nonsense originated in 2018 from the now-defunct site ConservativeColumns.com, which falsely claimed that Sasha was kicked out of Martin Luther King Jr. High School (which, by the way, she never attended) after allegedly accusing the school principal of targeting her because of her race. The site even put fake quotes in her mouth, like, "You wouldn't have me in here if I was white. I'm getting sick of you crackers," and, "Don't you know who my dad is? I'll have you fired if you wanna keep this [expletive] up." The story also claimed that what started as a suspension escalated to full-blown expulsion because of the gravity of her comments.

Another equally ridiculous rumor surfaced the same year about Malia. A pro-Trump website, Only Politics, pushed a fake story claiming she gave a speech at Harvard titled "A World Without Whites" and was either suspended or expelled by a supposed Dean Cain Markholder. Problem? Harvard has never had a dean by that name, and there's zero evidence Malia ever made such a speech. For the record, Sasha actually attended Sidwell Friends School, and Malia has yet to be publicly disciplined for anything, let alone for leading some anti-white crusade.

When will the internet give Sasha Obama a break? In December 2024, another over-the-top rumor popped up to drag her name through the mud — this time with a little (fine, it was a lot) help from AI. At the time, a YouTube channel called Beneath the Mask claimed that the youngest Obama kid had been asked to leave Reagan Washington Airport because some airport staff supposedly found it particularly sketchy that a Black woman was in possession of a business-class ticket. Yes, seriously. And according to this ridiculous story, her father dearest, Barack Obama, had to step in and smooth things over, resulting in Sasha then launching a campaign to reform the transportation industry. (Well, she hasn't)

The wildest part? The video somehow managed to rack up over a million views, despite the fact that the sole "proof" was an obviously AI-generated image of Sasha and Barack, paired with an AI voice narrating the whole thing as if was an actual scandal. How people could believe it's even partially true is anyone's guess. Then again, the comments on the video may also have been bot-driven.

In reality, though, there's absolutely zero evidence that this so-called incident ever happened. There were no news reports, no eyewitness accounts posted on X (formerly Twitter), and not even a blurry TMZ sighting. Sasha and Barack weren't even at the airport when it supposedly happened. It's pretty clear that the video was made purely as engagement bait, designed to stir up outrage and rake in ad money. With its over-one-million views, whoever posted it got what they wanted.

Barely a month after that AI-generated airport fiasco, Sasha Obama found herself at the center of yet another absurd rumor — this time about her supposedly spiraling over Michelle Obama and Barack Obama's nonexistent divorce. User @dom_lucre on X (formerly Twitter) posted a candid shot of Sasha in Los Angeles, fresh out of class, looking like, well, a regular college student going about her day. But according to the tweet, she was actually devastated and depressed over her parents' supposed split. "Sasha Obama was spotted in Los Angeles appearing to be depressed as she was seen for the first time since parents divorce talk," part of the tweet read. "The 23-year-old youngest daughter of Michelle and Barack Obama appeared tense and preoccupied as she strolled through Los Angeles clutching a handful of books."

Predictably, the tweet took off, with trolls jumping in to push the narrative. The photo was probably just an unflattering candid shot taken without her permission, and more importantly, Barack and Michelle aren't divorcing. The internet somehow latched onto the bizarre claim that Barack had an affair with Jennifer Aniston (yes, really), but in reality, the Obamas are still solid. Not long after the tweet, Michelle and Barack subtly shut down the nonsense — though not in the way the conspiracy theorists hoped. Michelle shared a tribute post about teen murder victim Hadiya Pendleton on her Instagram Story, writing (via the Daily Beast), "She had an extraordinary light that will not be forgotten, and Barack and I look forward to honoring her memory through a dedicated space at the Obama Presidential Center."

And then there's the claim that Malia Obama dropped her last name in a dramatic act of rebellion against Barack and Michelle. In case you missed it, Malia opted to use Malia Ann — her first and middle name — for her professional work in film, including her directorial debut, "The Heart." And no, it's not in any way similar to Shiloh Jolie's name change situation. For Malia, it seems like a pretty standard move for someone trying to avoid the dreaded nepo baby label and make a name for herself based on talent, not family connections. But, of course, the internet loves a good drama, with conspiracy theorists insisting she did it because she hates her parents.

Surprisingly, it was Barack himself who put that nonsense to rest. In an episode of "The Pivot" podcast, he explained that Malia simply wanted to be judged on her own merits, not for being the former president's daughter. "The challenge for us is letting us give them [my daughters] any help at all. I mean, they're very sensitive about this stuff. They're very stubborn about it," he revealed. He also recalled a conversation he had with Malia about her decision to drop her surname, saying, "I was all like, 'You do know they'll know who you are?' And she's all like, 'You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association.' So I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that."