(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Former First Lady Michelle Obama addressed growing rumors that she and her husband, former President Barack Obama, are out of sync in bed and possibly headed for divorce.
The couple, married since 1992, have been noticeably apart during recent high-profile events, including the funeral service of former President Jimmy Carter and the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
During a Wednesday interview on the Work in Progress podcast with host Sophia Bush, Michelle explained her absence from these major events by saying she simply didn’t feel like attending.
Michelle Obama breaks silence for the first time on divorce rumors after she skipped attending the funeral of Jimmy Carter and Trump’s inauguration, while her husband attended alone.
The former First Lady said that people “couldn’t even fathom” that she is a “grown woman” and… pic.twitter.com/3lpIaAES8B
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“The interesting thing is that, when I say ‘no,’ for the most part people are like, ‘I get it, and I’m OK,’” the former first lady said, as quoted by the New York Post.
“And that’s the thing that we as women struggle with — disappointing people. So much so that people, 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 described herself as “a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself.”
“But that’s what society does to us,” she added. “We actually finally start 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.”
While her comments appeared intended to dampen the divorce rumors, they did little to explain her absence from Carter’s funeral—a man she and her husband described as “remarkable.”
A spokesperson for Michelle said her absence was due to scheduling conflicts.” As for Trump’s inauguration, no explanation was provided.
Meanwhile, Barack Obama celebrated Valentine’s Day by posting a photo of the couple looking stiff, writing, “Thirty-two years together and you still take my breath away. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
