Michelle Obama finally quashes rumours, says “I was making a choice for myself” that people misinterpreted that “my husband and I are divorcing”
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Michelle Obama has finally quashed rumours that she and former United States President Barack Obama are headed for a divorce because of her not accompanying him in some prominent outings.
The former first lady sat down with actress Sophia Bush for an episode of her podcast Work in Progress.
She explained her decision to skip for President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, and President Donald Trump’s inauguration were simply decisions she made for herself.
Michelle’s absence at both high-profile political events sparked divorce rumours, with Obama admitting 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,” Michelle said.
“That this couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right? 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.”
Michelle 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.
“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. 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. Well, you know, the library is opening in a year from now.”
She acknowledged that there are “certain things I am and am not doing” with Obama’s presidential library 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?”
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