India, May 18 -- Malia Obama's directorial debut for Nike is under scrutiny after indie filmmaker Natalie Jasmine Harris accused the former first daughter of copying elements from her 2024 short film, Grace. Harris claims Obama's one-minute ad features scenes that are "shockingly similar" to her work.

Harris shared side-by-side stills from her short film, Grace and Malia Obama's Nike commercial featuring WNBA star A'ja Wilson, highlighting striking similarities. Both clips show young Black girls playing pat-a-cake on a stoop-imagery Harris says closely mirrors a key scene from her 2024 film. In the caption, she wrote, "Been sitting with this for a while. My Sundance short film Grace (shot brilliantly by Tehillah de Castro) was made with ...