Michelle Obama Breaks Her Silence – Has Made Her Decision
Michelle Obama has finally addressed the swirling rumors about her marriage, making it clear that her recent personal decisions are unrelated to her relationship with former President Barack Obama. Appearing on Work in Progress, a podcast hosted by Sophia Bush, the former first lady opened up about why she’s taken a step back from certain public roles. According to Michelle, these decisions were intentional moves for her own peace of mind—not signs of any marital issues.
“That’s the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with disappointing people,” she shared. “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 did not attend President Jimmy Carter’s burial in January, nor did she appear at Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017. Although she and Barack have been married since 1992 and have long been in the public eye, recent divorce speculation reached a new level after these absences. On the podcast, Michelle addressed the chatter directly, confronting the narratives surrounding her personal life.
“That this couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right?” she said, adding: “That’s what society does to us.”
She pointed out how women often feel a burden to explain their actions—especially when those actions defy traditional expectations.
“We start actually, finally going, ‘What am I doing? Who am I doing this for?’”
She continued, “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, who turned 61 in January, spoke on the episode about what the next chapter of her life might look like. She noted that without being tied down by others' assumptions, she's reflecting more on her day-to-day identity and the life she truly wants to build for herself.
“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,” she said. She made it clear that the answer to that question “looks like whatever I want it to look like.”
Despite the speculation, Michelle confirmed that she remains committed to causes that matter deeply to her. “And I still find time to work on projects, give speeches, and be out in the world, you know. I still care about girls’ education,” she stated.
“You know, the library is opening in a year from now.”
She clarified that while she’s not overseeing every detail of the Obama Presidential Library, she’s still actively contributing to the broader vision. “But what’s interesting is that most of the time, when I say no, people say, ‘I understand, and I’m fine,’” she noted.
At the time of Carter’s burial on January 9, her team cited “scheduling conflicts” as the reason for her absence. A CNN source also mentioned that she was still in Hawaii on an extended holiday vacation.
Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama recently acknowledged that the pressures of his presidency had created a “deep deficit” in their relationship—a candid admission that added more fuel to the gossip.