Malia Obama is being accused of copying an indie filmmaker’s work for her newly released Nike commercial, which premiered earlier this month. The project marks the first ad former President Obama’s daughter has directed.
Natalie Jasmine Harris, 27, said Obama’s one-minute production included scenes that were “shockingly similar” to her own short film “Grace,” which was released in 2024.
In an essay published with Business Insider, Harris stated that she was scrolling Instagram one night when she came across the former First Daughter’s ad featuring WNBA player A’ja Wilson.
“At first, I was confused, wondering whether it was real. It featured two people playing pat-a-cake in a way that echoed an early scene from my 14-minute short film “Grace,” which is a Black Southern Gothic short about a girl who’s being baptized and questioning her feelings for her best friend,” Harris said.
Harris further revealed that she met Malia at the Sundance film festival in 2024, when “Grace” and her short film “The Heart” were in competition. “We saw each other at the director’s brunch and a couple other events,” she said.
Harris’ cinematographer, Tehillah De Castro, noted “a-lot” of similarities between “Grace” and Obama’s commercial, including camera angles, shots, the framing composition and the color palette.
Watch:
I’m just going to leave this here.
This is my indie short film, “Grace,” next to Malia Obama’s @Nike x @_ajawilson22 commercial
It’s devastating, but at least you can (hopefully) see that this is about much more than just pat-a-cake…. pic.twitter.com/71m0H5n84z
— Natalie Jasmine Harris (@nataliejharris) May 12, 2025
“I know art often overlaps, but moments like this hit hard when you’ve poured your heart into telling stories with care and barely get the recognition you deserve. If brands want a certain look, why not hire from the source insftead of for name recognition,” Harris wrote in an X post.
“It’s devastating,” she added next to a side-by-side of her film and Obama’s project.
Harris has stated that her frustrations are less with Obama herself and more with the industry. “It speaks to a larger issue of brands not supporting independent artists and opting for folks who already have name recognition, which doesn’t breed innovative films or original storytelling,” she said.
