Months after divorce rumors started circulating about her and former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama broke her silence about the gossip.
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During her recent appearance on Sophia Bush’s Work in Progress podcast, Michelle addressed the rumors, noting the gossip starts after she makes “a choice” for herself.
“We as women, I think we struggle with disappointing people,” she explained. “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 herself. But that’s what society does to us.”
Michelle Obama continued to talk about the rumors by stating, “Now is the time for me to start asking myself these hard questions of… ‘Who do I truly want to be every day? And that changes. 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 rumors started circulating after Michelle didn’t appear alongside her husband during President Donald Trump’s second inauguration earlier this year. She also wasn’t in attendance for the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter.
Michelle and Barack Obama have been married since 1992 and share two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
Michelle Obama Reflects on Her Roles Since Leaving the White House
Elsewhere in the interview, Michelle Obama discussed her new sense of independence since leaving the White House.
“It is what I want, Sophia,” she told Bush about her life. “It is whatever I want. It’s the first time in my life all of my choices are for me.”
Michelle then said she has made excuses, including making sure her daughters are okay or that her husband is president, to avoid making decisions.
“Now you know, I can’t blame my decisions and indecisions on anyone other than me,” she pointed out. “I think if I’m honest with myself, I could have made a lot of these decisions years ago. But I didn’t give myself that freedom.”