- Michelle Obama has weighed in on divorce rumours
- The former First Lady is married to President Barack Obama
- She has taken a step back from public life amid the Trump administration
Michelle Obama has addressed her notable absences from key events in the political calendar on her new podcast.
The former First Lady recently launched Work In Progress, where she chatted to actress Sophia Bush. She took the opportunity to highlight how much she loves being able to pick and choose what she fills her diary now that her husband, Barack Obama’s presidency is far behind them. The decision was something she dubbed “a choice for myself”.
Recent engagements Michelle opted not to attend include the state funeral of President Jimmy Carter and the second inauguration of Donald Trump. While talking about her rationale the former lawyer explained how she used to hide behind being mother to her two daughters, Sasha and Malia. Both are now well into their 20s.
Read more: Michelle Obama won’t attend Trump’s inauguration
What did she say on her new podcast?
Michelle explained various rationale for her decision to place some boundaries on her work and personal commitments.
“I could have made a lot of these decisions years ago, but I didn’t give myself that freedom,” she told the ex One Tree Hill star. “Maybe even as much as I let my kids live their own lives, I use their lives as an excuse for why I couldn’t do something.”
“And now that’s gone. And so now I have to look at my — I get to look at my calendar, which I did this year, 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, not what I had to do, not what I thought other people wanted me to do,” the author continued.
Michelle Obama puts an end to the rumors that her and Barack are getting a divorce.
— Art Candee 🍿🥤 (@ArtCandee) April 9, 2025
I swear, there isn't a month that goes by where MAGA hasn't convinced themselves that the Obamas are divorcing.
🙄pic.twitter.com/G2UGeGw7za
What else did Michelle Obama say about her new life post-politics?
Michelle reflected on the causes she will dedicate her time to, such as education for women and girls. Throughout her time in the White House, she was under intense scrutiny, often facing overtly racist attacks from the right-wing press for her support of progressive causes and for being outspoken about racial injustice.
Michelle Obama shuts down divorce rumors after being noticeably absent from public events with Barack:
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) April 9, 2025
“And that’s the thing that we as women struggle with — disappointing people. So much so that people, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they… pic.twitter.com/JGgPL4uqUj
“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. We, you know, the library is opening in a year from now. Certain things I am and am not doing with the library,” she said.
Read more: Jennifer Aniston and Barack Obama dating rumours trend online
Michelle continued, “That’s the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with like 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.”
