Over the past few months, rumors have been swirling that Barack and Michelle Obama are heading for divorce. These claims allege that Barack and Michelle have been living “separate lives” for quite some time.
Now, Barack and Michelle’s oldest daughter Malia has been hit with a damning accusation. Indeed, given all the attention that their marriage is currently getting, this is the last thing Barack and Michelle need right now!
Malia Accused Of Cinematic Plagiarism
An independent filmmaker is claiming that Malia, 26, plagiarized her cinematic work in a new Nike commercial. Director Natalie Jasmine Harris alleges that Malia ripped off a scene from her recent short film Grace. In the scene in question in Malia’s Nike commercial, which features the WNBA star A’ja Wilson, two characters play “pat-a-cake.”
According to Natalie, Malia plagiarized her “cinematic tools” used to shoot the childhood game.
“Initially, I was disappointed and hurt — not just for myself but for my entire team,” Natalie, 27, told Business Insider.
Fox News reported that Malia’s Nike commercial “Teaching The Pro features a young girl explaining the complex choreography of a customized game of ‘pat-a-cake’ to Las Vegas Aces Center A’ja Wilson as she initially struggles to keep up.”
Natalie is alleging that the camera angles, shots, framing and even the color palette used in the commercial are far too similar to the ones that she used in her short film Grace. She describes her movie as a “Black Southern Gothic short about a girl who’s being baptized and questioning her feelings for her best friend.”
“If they wanted these shots that were similar to my shots, why not hire me to direct?” Natalie lamented.
Check out the similarities for yourself below.
Related: Malia Obama Attacks Reporter In New York City Bar
Natalie Doubles Down
Natalie went on to explain that she met Malia at a directors brunch as well as other events at Sundance 2024. There, Grace was in competition with Malia’s short film Heart.
Natalie expressed her frustrations that big brands are reluctant to give opportunities to burgeoning filmmakers. Instead, brands oftentimes prefer to focus on working with established names, like Malia Obama.
“The route that used to work for the Spike Lees and Steven Spielbergs of the world feels less viable today,” Natalie continued. “If we’re continuously overlooked, how is the next generation of filmmakers going to exist?”
Natalie has not heard from Malia or Nike since going public with these allegations. They also did not respond to Fox News when contacted for a comment. Despite this, Natalie still feels that it was important for her to speak out about this issue, as she sees it as a major problem in her industry.
“I’ve poured too much into my work to just sit by and watch,” Natalie concluded.
Related: Michelle Obama Reveals What Barack Is ‘Scared’ Of Amidst Rumors They’re Divorcing
Obama Divorce Rumors
This could not have come at a worse time for the Obama family. Over the past few months, rumors have been spreading like wildfire that Barack, 63, and Michelle Obama, 61, are divorcing. They have been married since 1992, and they’re parents to Malia and her younger sister Sasha, 23.
These divorce rumors escalated back in January, when Michelle skipped both the funeral of Jimmy Carter and the inauguration of Donald Trump. Indeed, she was the only living former First Lady to miss both of these events.
“I have been hearing this rumor that the Obamas are getting a divorce by reputable people,” political commentator Meghan McCain said on reporter Tara Palmeri’s podcast back in January. “I’m not talking about TMZ, I’m not talking about Perez Hilton, although I love him, he’s my friend.”
“I’m talking about like very serious journalists telling me that they’re hearing that the Obama divorce rumors are true,” she added.
“We’ve heard that for a long time,” replied Tara, who has long covered Washington politics. “Like I just heard that they live separate lives.”
Listen to Meghan and Tara talk more about this in the clip below.
Michelle has been trying to shoot down these divorce rumors as of late. According to her, there is no truth to them. However, she has frequently bashed Barack on her new podcast IMO as of late. This has only continued to add fuel to the rumors that she really is divorcing Barack.
The Obamas have yet to respond to the claims that are being made against Malia. Only time will tell how this impacts Malia’s career in filmmaking!
More About:Celebrity News