Michelle Obama has finally pushed back on rumors that she and former President Barack Obama are headed for a divorce.
The former first lady sat down with actress Sophia Bush for an episode of her podcast Work in Progress.
She said her decision to skip President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, and President Donald Trump’s inauguration, were simply decisions she made for herself.
Her absence at both high-profile political events stoked divorce rumors, as did President Obama’s admission last week that he was in a ‘deep deficit’ with his wife.
‘That’s the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with disappointing people. I mean, so much so that this year people were, you know, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing,’ Obama said in the podcast episode, released Tuesday.
‘That this couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right?’ she continued.
Obama added: ‘That’s what society does to us.’
‘We start actually, finally going, “What am I doing? Who am I doing this for?” And if it doesn’t fit into the sort of stereotype of what people think we should do, then it gets labeled as something negative and horrible.’
The former first lady turned 61 on January 17 and spoke candidly to Bush about questions she’s asking about how she wants to spend the twilight of her life.
Michelle Obama finally pushed back on the rumors that she and former President Barack Obama were headed for a divorce.
President Barack Obama appeared at Hamilton College last week in upstate New York and admitted that he was in a ‘deep deficit’ with his wife
‘So you know, now is the time for me to start asking myself these hard questions of who do I truly want to be every day,’ Obama said.
She said that looks ‘like whatever I want it to look like.’
‘And I still find time to you know, give speeches, to be out there in the world, to work on projects. I still care about girls’ education,’ Obama said. ‘We you know, the library is opening in a year from now.’
The former first lady acknowledged that there are ‘certain things I am and am not doing’ with President Obama’s presidential library, which is being constructed on Chicago’s South Side.
‘But the interesting thing is that when I say no, for the most part, people are like, I get it, and I’m OK, right?’ she continued.
Michelle Obama had appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August alongside her husband to stump for nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
During her speech, she admitted that she struggled with coming to the DNC, as she had been mourning her mother Marian Robinson’s death, which occurred in May.
The former first lady made a handful of appearances on the campaign trail for Harris as well.
Former President Barack Obama (left) and first lady Michelle Obama (right) appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August to support Vice President Kamala Harris. Michelle admitted she was still mourning her mother Marian Robinson, who died in May
Former President Barack Obama (left) tried to silence divorce gossip by posting this photo for former first lady Michelle Obama’s (right) birthday on January 17th, though the unflattering snap had people asking more questions about the state of the Obamas’ marriage
The Obamas put out a public display of affection on X to mark the former first lady’s 61st birthday in January amid speculation they could be headed to divorce, due to her skipping two high-profile political events in Washington that the ex-president attended
InTouch magazine had splashed the affair rumor about former President Barack Obama and Jennifer Aniston on its cover last year, with Jimmy Kimmel asking Aniston about it on his late night show in October
But she declined to fly to Washington for Carter’s funeral on January 9th, which was followed by Trump’s January 20th swearing-in.
Her advisers told CNN she missed Carter’s gathering at the National Cathedral due to ‘scheduling conflicts.’
‘She’s actually still in Hawaii for an extended holiday vacation,’ the source said.
Her 61st birthday was three days before the inauguration.
The former president posted a picture of them together to mark Michelle’s special day.
However the unflattering picture prompted more questions about the state of the Obamas’ marriage.
The former first couple also had to contend with baseless gossip that Barack was engaging in an affair with actress Jennifer Aniston.
InTouch magazine had splashed the affair rumor on its cover in August, with Jimmy Kimmel asking Aniston about it on his late night show in October.
The A-list actress said the affair rumor was ‘absolutely untrue’ though laughingly said she ‘was not mad at it.’
‘I’ve met him once. I know Michelle more than him,’ Aniston said.
With that admission, Kimmel followed up with: ‘Is there a truth about you and Michelle that we should know?’
‘That is not true,’ Aniston replied.
