Michelle Obama addresses Barack divorce rumors after stepping away from the limelight: ‘I chose to do what was best for me’
Michelle Obama is blasting rumors that she and Barack Obama are divorcing.
The former first lady addressed the unfounded gossip while explaining why she decided to take a step back from the spotlight on Wednesday’s episode of Sophia Bush’s “Work in Progress” podcast.
“The interesting thing is that when I say ‘no,’ for the most part, people are like, ‘I get it,’ and I’m OK,” Michelle shared, referring to how she’s been skipping several political events that her husband attended solo.
“And that’s the thing that we as women struggle with — disappointing people,” she continued. “So much so that people, 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.”
Michelle laughed at the concept of ending her marriage and scoffed at the idea that she couldn’t possibly be “a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself.”
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“But that’s what society does to us,” she said. “We actually finally start 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.”
Michelle explained that at the age of 61, she feels it’s “time to make some big girl decisions” in her life and “own it fully.”
“If not now, when? What am I waiting for?” she asked.
“Now is the time for me to start asking myself these hard questions of, ‘Who do I truly want to be every day?’ And that changes,” she admitted. “So, who do I want to have a lunch with? How long do I want to stay in a place? Do I want to travel? If a girlfriend calls and says, ‘Let’s go here,’ I can say ‘Yes!’ I can. And I’m trying to do that more and more.”
Now that she’s no longer in the White House and both her and Barack’s daughters — Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23 — have flown the coop, she has more freedom in deciding how to spend her time.
“I get to look at my calendar, which I did this year. It was a real big example of me, myself, looking at something that I was supposed to do, you know, without naming names, and I chose to do what was best for me,” she said. “Not what I had to do, not what other people wanted me to do, and between you and me, that was an important test for me just as a woman, as an independent person. Because, like all women, I operate from guilt.”
Michelle may have been referring to how she made headlines for skipping high-profile events in January that Barack attended by himself, like President Trump’s inauguration and President Jimmy Carter’s funeral.
At the time, Page Six confirmed that she was on an “extended vacation” in Hawaii during the funeral and absent from Trump’s swearing-in ceremony because she’s “no phony.”
Michelle emphasized that, despite saying “yes” to more adventures, she is still working on passion projects.
“So what does it look like? It looks like whatever I want it to look like. And I still find time to give speeches, to be out there in the world, to work on projects. I still care about girls’ education,” she said.
While Michelle’s relationship with Barack is apparently still going strong, the 44th president admitted earlier this month that he “was in a deep deficit with [his] wife.”
“I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things,” he explained to Hamilton College President Steven Tepper in a conversation.
Barack has previously suggested how his back-to-back presidential terms from 2009 to 2017 took a toll on their marriage, and Michelle even admitted that she “couldn’t stand” him when their children were younger.
“Marriage isn’t 50/50 — ever, ever,” she said during a recent Revolt TV panel in 2022. “There are times I’m 70, he’s 30. There are times he’s 60, [I’m] 40. But guess what? Ten years — we’ve been married 30 — I would take 10 bad years over 30. It’s just how you look at it.”
The “Becoming” author and Barack, 63, have been married since October 1992.
Barack confirmed that he still has the hots for Michelle when he posted a flirty message for her 61st birthday in January.
“Happy birthday to the love of my life, @MichelleObama.You fill every room with warmth, wisdom, humor, and grace – and you look good doing it,” he wrote on Instagram along with a photo of them holding hands on a romantic dinner date at Michelin-starred restaurant Aubergine Carmel.
“I’m so lucky to be able to take on life’s adventures with you. Love you!” he added, prompting her to respond in the comments, “Love you, honey! ❤️😘.”
