Michelle Obama pleads for paparazzi to leave her daughters alone

‘They are not looking to be followed by the paparazzi just because their mom wrote a book’

Peony Hirwani
Tuesday 22 November 2022 12:50 GMT
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Michelle Obama has urged the paparazzi to leave her daughters Sasha and Malia alone.

The former first lady’s daughters currently live in Los Angeles and have been the target of stalking ever since the release of their mother’s new book The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times.

In a new interview with People, Obama said that her daughters aren’t influencers or social media celebrities, so the paparazzi should leave them alone.

“They are not social media stars,” she said. “It is hard for me to delve too deeply, for example, into the lessons I’ve learned as a parent because I’m trying to protect the privacy of my girls.

“You have to pull back on how much you share about their lives and how much you put them back out in the public eye because they’re not looking for the attention.

“They are not looking to be followed by the paparazzi just because their mom wrote a book. And I hope the media hears me when I am saying this.”

“They are not seeking the light,” Obama added.

Obama is currently touring around the US to promote her new book in which she shared the contents of her “personal toolbox” — the habits and practices, attitudes and beliefs, and even physical objects that she uses to overcome her feelings of fear, helplessness and self doubt.

Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The 58-year-old wrote that the book, her third, is not a how-to manual, but rather is a “series of honest reflections on what my life has taught me so far”.

“Keep in mind, too, that everything I know, all the various tools I lean on, have come to me only through trial and error, over years of constant practice and reevaluation,” she wrote. “I spent decades learning on my feet, making mistakes, adjustments, and course corrections as I went. I’ve progressed only slowly to where I am today.”

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