Malia Obama Digs One Direction, Secret Service Seems Less Enthused

Idolator Staff | May 27, 2012 6:05 pm

Yes, that was President Obama’s daughter Malia taking in a One Direction concert last Thursday (May 24) in Virginia.

It was the second night of the British boy band’s invasion of these United States, and the 13-year-old first daughter found herself in the company of thousands of other screaming fans as Niall, Zayn, Harry, Liam and Louis knocked out renditions of “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Up All Night”. It was, presumably, Malia’s first chance to see the band, given that they turned down an invitation to perform at the White House this past Easter.

Of course, the First Daughter was also in the company of a few special guests: her Secret Service detail. TMZ points out  the wary-eyed individual standing behind Malia as she applauds 1D, and he doesn’t look all that pleased to be there. While the president is known for his generally good music taste (check out the Obama campaign playlist), the White House doesn’t appear to be looking kindly on the media outlets who have shown photos of Malia at the show. Details below.

Popular viral news site Buzzfeed, for example, ran a story after the concert with the headline “Malia Obama Goes to the One Direction Concert with the Secret Service”, packaged with a photo of the teen 1D fan and her Secret Service escort. But the site later changed the headline and cropped Malia out of the photo, saying in a note that the story had been revised “in keeping with the tradition of respecting the privacy of presidents’ children”.

That revision was made, the site said, after commenters and a White House official pointed out the longstanding practice of keeping president’s kids out of the news. (They are considered fair game, however, when they are with their parents — as Malia and Sasha were when they attended the Beyonce concert at Revel in New Jersey with their mother, First Lady Michelle Obama).

Are you surprised to hear Malia’s a fan of 1D? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments.