The former First Lady of the US, Michelle Obama, has spoken out on the swirling online speculations that she and her husband, Barack Obama, are headed for a divorce.
Michelle appeared on the “Work in Progress" podcast with Sophia Bush and addressed the rumours that she and her husband are divorcing.
“As women, I think we struggle with, like, disappointing people. You know, so much so that this year people couldn't even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing,” she shared.
She added, “This couldn't be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself. That’s what society does to us. We start to finally say, ‘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 divorce rumours started swirling around because Barack was linked with Jennifer Aniston, and online rumours alleged that it created a dispute between the married couple.
To make matters worse, Michelle was absent at Donald Trump’s inauguration, which led to people believing that they are in the middle of a separation.
The Obamas have been married for 32 years and have two daughters, Malia, 26 and Sasha, 23.
Michelle further shared what life is like since leaving the White House.
She shared, “Who do I want to have lunch with? How long do I want to stay in a place? Do I want to travel? If a girlfriend calls and says let's go here, I can say yes. And I’m trying to do that more and more.”
“And now that’s gone. And so now I get to look at my calendar, which I did this year, was a real big example of me, myself looking at something that I was supposed to do - you know, without naming names - and I chose to do what was best for, not what I had to do, not what I thought other people wanted me to do,” the 61-year-old added.
On April 5, Barack opened up about the challenges he faced in his marriage after leaving the White House.
He told an audience at Hamilton College: "I was in a deep deficit with my wife.
“So I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things."
Listen to the podcast below: