Michelle Obama, the former First Lady of the United States, has dismissed rumours claiming that she and former President Barack Obama are heading for divorce.
Michelle addressed the rumours during a conversation with Hollywood actress Sophia Bush on a recent episode of her podcast, Work in Progress, which was shared on social media on Thursday.
She clarified that her choices to skip President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and President Donald Trump’s inauguration were personal decisions she made for herself.
Advertisement
Her absence from both high-profile political events fueled divorce rumours, with Obama acknowledging last week that he was in a “deep deficit” with his wife.
READ MORE: Otedola Celebrates Dangote’s 68th Birthday, Calls Him Africa’s Greatest Entrepreneur
“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.
“That this couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right?’ she continued.
Obama added: ‘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.’
The former First Lady, who turned 61 on January 17, spoke openly with Bush about the questions she’s contemplating regarding how she wishes to spend the later years 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,’ she said.
Michelle shared that it looks “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.
“We, you know, the library is opening a year from now.”
The former First Lady acknowledged that there are “certain things I am and am not doing” regarding President Obama’s presidential library, currently under construction 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?” she added.
