Michelle Obama Addresses Divorce Rumors and Why She’s Rarely Seen with Husband Barack

Rumors of marital discord have plagued the former First Couple for months.

The Gist

• Rumors of marital discord have dogged President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for months.
• Buzz hit fever pitch after Michelle missed President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and President Donald Trump’s inauguration—but Michelle has something to say about it.
• She opened up on NPR’s “Wild Card” podcast and shut down any rumors of strife in her marriage, telling host Rachel Martin, “You just are not gonna know what we’re doing every minute of the day.”

Former First Lady Michelle Obama addressed those persistent divorce rumors—and why she’s rarely seen with her husband, President Barack Obama—in a new podcast appearance.

Speaking on NPR’s “Wild Card” podcast on June 26, Michelle alluded to the fact that she and her husband are rarely photographed together because they’re “too old for Instagram,” according to The New York Post.

“The fact that people don’t see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumors of the end of our marriage,” Michelle told host Rachel Martin. “It’s like, ‘Okay, so we don’t Instagram every minute of our lives. We are 60. We’re 60, y’all.’”

“You just are not gonna know what we’re doing every minute of the day,” she added.

The bulk of the Obama marital woes rumors began after Michelle didn’t attend major events she’d typically be expected at—like the funeral of President Jimmy Carter and President Donald Trump’s inauguration. “One of the major decisions I made this year was to stay put and not attend funerals and inaugurations and all the things that I’m supposed to attend,” she said.

“That was a part of me using my ambition to say, ‘Let me define what I want to do, apart from what I’m supposed to do, what the world expects of me,’” Michelle continued. “And I have to own that. Those are my choices.”

She added, “Whatever the backlash was, I had to sit in it and own it. But I didn’t regret it, you know? It’s my life now, and I can say that now.”

Michelle has opened up about her marriage on her own podcast, “IMO,” which she co-hosts with her brother Craig Robinson, and other podcasts as well, like an appearance last month on Steven Bartlett’s “The Diary of a CEO” show. On that program, she told Barlett that if there were issues in the Obama marriage, she wouldn’t keep quiet about it.

“If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it,” Michelle said. “My brother would know it. I’d be problem-solving in public. I’m not a martyr.”

And just for the record, the Obamas—who have been married since 1992 and share two daughters, Malia and Sasha—do still go on dates. The couple went on a date at the Lowell Hotel restaurant in Manhattan last month, and went out on another public date night in Washington, D.C. in April.