How Malia Obama ended up co-writing one of the strangest episodes of ‘Swarm’

If Malia Obama has chosen a career path as a writer in the filmmaking industry, she is well on her way. She is now credited as a staff writer on Donald Glover and Janine Nabers’ television series Swarm, an important accomplishment in a steadily rising career.

Starring Dominique Fishback, Chloe Bailey, and Nirine S. Brown, Swarm is about a fan who has an unhealthy obsession with her idol that turns very violent. Imagine being the star of the show as Fishback and Bailey are and gushing over a writer in the writing room. After meeting Malia, Fishback told ET Online, “It was pretty cool to meet her. I think she’s dope.” Then, she added, “It was nice to know that she was going to be on it and that we had different voices and different generations involved in making the show.”

Having already met Malia, Bailey said, “It was always so fun and exciting getting to run into Malia and Sasha years prior.” Then, she beamed, “I was just so excited when I actually got to see her on set. I’m just so proud of her.”

The daughter of former president Barack Obama, Malia graduated from Harvard in 2021 and has wasted no time making a name for herself. The aspiring artist has pursued her dream for some time, having interned on the set of the television series Girls while still in high school, and serving as a production assistant on the television series Extant starring Halle Berry. Those opportunities provided valuable experiences and an impressive resume before Obama ever stepped onto the Swarm set.

She was recruited by Donald Glover to work on the show and according to Vanity Fair, the actor, comedian, singer, rapper, writer, director, and producer had this to say, “She’s just, like, an amazingly talented person. She’s really focused, and she’s working really hard.” Then, he went on to praise, “I feel like she’s just somebody who’s gonna have really good things coming soon… Her writing style is great.”

Nabers co-wrote the episode “Girl, Bye” with Obama and enjoyed the experience, “Some of her pitches were wild as hell, and they were just so good and so funny.” She went on to say, “[‘Girl, Bye’] is probably one of the wildest episodes. I think it’s going to surprise a lot of people. It’s pretty dope. I’m really proud of it.”