“This couldn’t be a grown woman just making decisions herself,” she quipped, underscoring how rumors reflect broader biases. Her candid reflection resonated as a pushback against reductive narratives about women in the public eye.
Michelle Obama has addressed swirling divorce rumors with former President Barack Obama, framing speculation as society’s inability to accept a woman’s independent decisions.
The former First Lady, 61, dismissed the persistent divorce rumors during an appearance on Sophia Bush’s ‘Work in Progress’ podcast, revealing how public assumptions stemmed from her prioritizing personal choices. “People couldn’t fathom that I was making a choice for myself,” she said, “They had to assume my husband and I are divorcing.” Married for 32 years, the Obamas faced intense scrutiny last year when rumors emerged, despite their longstanding “power couple” image. Michelle linked the speculation to societal stereotypes: “If it doesn’t fit what people think we should do, it gets labeled as something negative.”
Emphasizing her post-White House autonomy, Michelle shared her deliberate shift toward self-defined priorities: “Who do I truly want to be every day?” She described reclaiming agency over her schedule—from travel to spontaneous lunches with friends—as acts of self-determination often misconstrued as marital strife. “When I say ‘no,’ people are like, ‘I get it,’” she noted, highlighting the gendered expectation for women to avoid “disappointing” others.