The Little Girls Who Grew Up in the White House Just Had the Most Normal Night Out
They once navigated press gaggles on the South Lawn in matching cardigans. Now Malia and Sasha Obama are staying out until 4 a.m. on the Sunset Strip — and the internet can’t stop talking about it.
On Tuesday, August 22, 2023, the two former first daughters were photographed leaving The Bird Streets Club in West Hollywood, an exclusive Hollywood hotspot, after a night of celebrating with rapper Drake and his inner circle. The occasion: the final Los Angeles performance of Drake and 21 Savage’s It’s All a Blur tour at Crypto.com Arena.
They weren’t just there. According to Page Six, which first reported the sighting, they were there until dawn.

From the White House to West Hollywood
Malia, now 25, and Sasha, 22, have been quietly building their adult lives in Los Angeles, where they share a home. Sasha, a recent University of Southern California graduate, wore a cropped black corset and cargo pants for the evening. Her older sister Malia went for a sheer lace-up top from the brand Knwls, paired with high-waisted flared trousers in a bold floral print and black lug-sole boots. Complex
Other big names at Drake’s West Coast after-parties that week included Anderson .Paak and Saweetie. The Obama sisters left at approximately 4 a.m. and returned to their shared L.A. residence, according to multiple reports. Vibe
For two young women who spent eight years unable to walk out their front door without a Secret Service detail and a press corps watching, a night out like this is something quietly significant.

Growing Up in the Spotlight — Whether They Liked It or Not
Michelle Obama has spoken candidly about what those White House years cost her daughters in terms of ordinary childhood. On the Moments That Make Us podcast with Melinda French Gates, she described watching Malia and Sasha learn to navigate unwanted attention from a young age.
“They are watched,” Michelle said. “They had to learn how to balance the unwanted attention, but do it politely. To build their own lives in the spotlight and not be eaten up by it.”
She added that even while living in a house with butlers and florists, she was raising them with one eye on the exit: “I was raising them thinking, ‘You’re not going to live here, and with me, forever. So I’ve got to hand you your life soon and let you manage it.'”
That moment appears to have arrived.

Two Sisters, Two Careers, One City
Malia is no longer just a former president’s daughter. In addition to working as a writer on Donald Glover’s series Swarm, Malia wrote and directed a short film titled The Heart, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024 under the name Malia Ann. Her father, in characteristic Obama fashion, couldn’t resist a gentle tease: “I was all like, ‘You do know they’ll know who you are?'” he said on The Pivot podcast. aol
Sasha, meanwhile, graduated from USC in May 2023 with a degree in sociology — just months before the Drake party. She’s been just as intentional about keeping her personal and professional lives private.
Michelle has said it all worked out the way she’d hoped. “It feels good to know that the two girls you raised find solace at a kitchen table with one another,” she said. “It’s like the one thing you want for them.”

The Obama Family’s Drake Connection Is Real
This wasn’t a random celebrity crossing. The Obamas and Drake have a well-documented mutual admiration that goes back years. During an interview in late 2020, Barack Obama was asked whether he’d support Drake — who had previously expressed interest in playing him in a biopic — and responded: “Drake has — more importantly — my household’s stamp of approval. I suspect Malia and Sasha would be just fine with it.” aol
Apparently, he was right.

What We Know

Date: Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Venue: The Bird Streets Club, West Hollywood
Occasion: After-party following Drake and 21 Savage’s final L.A. stop on the It’s All a Blur tour at Crypto.com Arena
Also in attendance: Anderson .Paak, Saweetie, Drake’s father Dennis Graham
Departure time: Approximately 4 a.m.
Malia’s outfit: Knwls sheer lace-up top, printed high-waisted flared pants, black lug-sole boots
Sasha’s outfit: Black cropped corset, cargo pants, heels
Residence: The sisters share a home in Los Angeles

Why This Moment Matters
There’s a version of Malia and Sasha Obama that exists frozen in amber for a lot of Americans — two little girls walking across the White House lawn, waving stiffly, dressed for someone else’s idea of what a president’s daughters should look like.
That version is gone.
What’s replaced it is something more interesting: two young women who survived one of the most scrutinized childhoods in American history and came out the other side with careers, friendships, and the apparent ability to stay out until 4 a.m. without making it anyone’s business but their own.
As Michelle Obama said about watching her daughters choose each other: “It’s like the one thing you want for them.”