Malia and Sasha Obama were just 10 and 8 years old when Barack Obama became the president. The girls grew up in the public eye, and Michelle Obama tried her best to keep them away from it. Their teenage years and young adulthood have been in front of the public. Among all the chaos of fame and paparazzi, one thing that has troubled Michelle Obama and Barack is their girls’ smoking habits.
The girls indulging in smoking have caused quite a stir for the family. Ever since adolescence, girls have been in a rebellious phase. Due to this, Barack and Michelle had less control over them. As parents, they have tried to be understanding and kind. However, there is a harsh judgment that comes from being a public figure. Their smoking habits in public have led to negative publicity and rumors. In 2017, Malia was spotted smoking a cigarette during Harvard-Yale Football.
In 2023, Sasha’s photos of smoking a cigarette went viral as she was seen out in LA. Malia was also seen puffing a cigarette when leaving a spa in LA. Since then the two have been spotted enjoying a cigarette every now and then. Their other scandals include kissing boys when they were too young. Now this would have been normal teenage behavior for many girls. But since they were popular it brought them negative attention.
Sasha Obama seen out in Los Angeles smoking cigarettes with her friends. The pictures are now going viral. pic.twitter.com/CynbZSEB0K
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) September 8, 2023
Initially, the smoking habit was a nightmare for Michelle to handle. She says they got this bad habit from Barack. Although he quit smoking during his last term, it seems like kids picked it up. Michelle tried hard to protect the girls without coming off as overprotective in the media. She believes it was hard to raise them as they were constantly in the media, even when going to school or prom. As parents, they understood that their girls were growing up and would experiment with things like all kids do.
Michelle claimed that weekends were a nightmare for them as the girls were partying; they had drinks and tried smoking. As parents, they had to work hard to let them be regular teenagers while also not ending up on Page Six. Since Obamas had crafted their global image, they could not have such news reflect badly on their family at that time.
Ex-President Obama’s eldest daughter Malia puffs on a cigarette, weeks after her sister, Sasha was captured doing same
📸:@PageSix pic.twitter.com/ji2aLFzHKX
— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) October 5, 2023
They might have been right in raising their kids without stripping their freedom. One expert, Amy Prenner, agrees that you have to let your parents grow, learn, and make mistakes along the way. She suggested setting boundaries and grounding the family on what they share publicly. This is exactly what they did even when they knew how public their family was.
Even Ivanka Trump defended the kids by saying they should be allowed privacy and their lives should be off limits. They have the right to be normal teens and young adults despite being in the public eye.
