Category: Michelle Obama

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Barack Obama Michelle Obama

Barack Obama joked about the divorce rumors: ‘She took me back!’

barack-obama-joked-about-the-divorce-rumors:-‘she-took-me-back!’

In January, Michelle Obama notably skipped two state events, events which she “should” have attended as the former first lady. She skipped Jimmy Carter’s state funeral and she skipped Donald Trump’s second inauguration. At both events, Barack Obama attended solo. He even sat next to Trump at Carter’s funeral, which is the seating protocol. After Michelle skipped those two events back-to-back, there were so many rumors about the state of the Obamas’ marriage and something something separate lives. Michelle later said/indicated that she skipped those events because of Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. Michelle feels like she’s earned the right to skip some of the state events now, especially because of Trump, and none of it is a reflection of her marriage. Well, these days, Michelle is doing a podcast with her brother Craig. This week, Barack was the pod guest. He and Michelle started joking about their faux-divorce right away.

Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are addressing rumors about a divorce head-on in an episode of her podcast released Wednesday.

“She took me back!” Barack Obama said on the “IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson” podcast. “It was touch and go for a while.”

“It’s so nice to have you both in the same room together,” said Robinson, who is Michelle Obama’s brother, to the couple. Michelle responded, “I know because when we aren’t, folks think we’re divorced.”

Robinson recounted a story when a woman at an airport approached him to ask about their marriage. “‘What did he do?’” Robinson said she asked him.

“These are the kinds of things that I just miss,” Barack Obama said. “So I don’t even know this stuff’s going on and then somebody will mention it to me and I’m like what are you talking about?”

Michelle Obama continued on saying, “There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I’ve thought about quitting on my man. And we’ve had some really hard times and we’ve had a lot of fun times, a lot of adventures and I have become a better person because of the man I’m married to.”

[From CNN]

I giggled at “she took me back!” I’m including the video below – Barry’s delivery is perfect, especially “it was touch and go for a while!” Yeah, they’re fine. I think they’ve also reached that stage in their marriage where they appreciate some time apart, but they still come together and enjoy being together most of the time. Anyway, remember when we had lovely people in the White House? Remember when Michelle planted a garden? Remember President Obama’s dad jokes every year at the turkey-pardon? *sobs*

“Don’t make me cry now.” Barack and Michelle Obama address divorce rumors for the first time. pic.twitter.com/FpaooIqGyp

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) July 16, 2025

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Amy Poehler Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama loves HGTV, especially ‘House Hunters’ & ‘Rock the Block’

michelle-obama-loves-hgtv,-especially-‘house-hunters’-&-‘rock-the-block’

Last week, Amy Poehler’s interview with Michelle Obama was released. Amy interviewed MO for her podcast Good Hang, and I’m including the interview at the end of the post. Michelle is a big podcaster now as well, and she’s been returning the favor by doing more pod interviews this year. I actually think MO is in her IDGAF Era, which happened as soon as Trump “won” the election – Michelle was just like, “you know what, I don’t give a sh-t anymore, I’m going to say whatever I want.” Well, as always, MO is just like us. On Good Hang, Michelle revealed something about herself which I relate to so much: she loves HGTV, and she’s obsessed with House Hunters.

In the May 13 episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler, the former first lady, 61, revealed that when she wants to, as the host phrased it, “disconnect, check out and just have fun,” she watches HGTV. “My version of golf to Barack, because he’s got golf on all the time — he says, ‘It’s my background noise’ — so my version of that is HGTV,” Michelle revealed to a visibly excited Amy Poehler, who responded, “I love HGTV. Let’s talk about it.”

The first show Michelle named? A channel fixture since 1999. “House Hunters,” she said. “There’s something so soothing about the arc of that. You know? You look for a house. We just like looking at people’s houses.”

The Light We Carry author then asked Poehler, 53, a question that divides fans of the long-running series: “Do you prefer when the budget is a low-budget house or a high-budget house? Because sometimes I feel a way, especially House Hunters International.”

In response, Poehler said, “Okay, I’m obsessed with House Hunters International. First of all, every place looks so … I’m like, ‘Wow, you can get that for that money?’ Like, I’m always blown away by what you can get. I’m always like, ‘Should I move to Morocco?’ But usually, they’re never gonna get anything with that budget. And then…”

“They get something with the budget,” Michelle stepped in. “And don’t you like the way people have such high expectations with a low budget? Like, ‘These aren’t marble.’ It’s like, but you wanna pay a hundred dollars a month, you know? Why would you get marble? And then the real estate agent is, and especially in the foreign countries, incredulous. It’s like, ‘Oh, you want a yard for a large dog?’ I love it though.”

And Michelle also loves the HGTV shows focused on what comes after the purchase, she revealed. “Oh, love all the makeover stuff. I love Rock the Block,” the Becoming author said, before explaining — and praising — the premise of the series to an unfamiliar Poehler.

“This is when they get all the designers from all the other [HGTV] shows, and they come on to one block of newly built houses from scratch, and they compete for rooms to see each week,” Michelle explained. “So the designers go in. They have a week or whatever to redo that area, and then they’re judged by other designers. And then they win, and they collect points until they finish the whole house. It’s an amazing concept,” she added of the series, as Poehler added that “that seems like the highest budget in the world.”

As for why they enjoy renovation and makeover series like Rock the Block, Poehler offered, “Just a completion. There’s an end where something is done.”

“And I like the before and after,” Michelle added. “I like the, ‘Oh wow, those floors look much better.’ ”

[From People]

House Hunters International is WILD! I love that show and I wish HGTV aired it more often. These days, you have to be really lucky and find a marathon once in a blue moon. But HHI is more fantasy – the fantasy of picking up and moving to another country, seeing what you could get in a certain price range. It’s more fun when the people have money AND wild expectations. But I honestly prefer the home makeover shows, for the reason Amy says – the completion, the actual end result within a 30-minute or 60-minute show. I’m a big fan of Ben and Erin Napier (Home Town) and Dave and Jenny Marrs (Fixer to Fabulous). I like a married couple working together, especially when they have a good marriage.

Screengrabs courtesy of Good Hang.

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Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama wants women ‘to start practicing different strategies for saying no’

michelle-obama-wants-women-‘to-start-practicing-different-strategies-for-saying-no’

It’s really funny to me that the Duchess of Sussex and Michelle Obama are both doing podcasts which release weekly episodes within a similar time period. Both podcasts – Meghan’s Confessions of a Female Founder and Michelle’s IMO – are getting so many headlines, but only one of the two women is talking about nitty-gritty personal stuff, and it’s not Meghan. Michelle is truly in her Protecting My Peace/IDGAF Era. Earlier this year, Michelle made the choice to skip Jimmy Carter’s funeral AND Donald Trump’s inauguration. Skipping both of those events back-to-back definitely created some speculation about the state of the Obama marriage. The conversation was basically “what does it say if Michelle doesn’t care enough to keep up appearances?” The thing is, Michelle was trying to telegraph her hatred for Donald Trump, as opposed to telegraphing anything in particular about her marriage.

Michelle Obama is finally opening up about her decision to step back from certain public events. The former first lady raised eyebrows when she did not attend the second inauguration of President Donald Trump in January. The move came shortly after she missed Jimmy Carter’s funeral, where she would have been seated beside Trump.

Though her absence from the spotlight after the new year sparked rumors of bitterness, scandal and even marital discord between her and former President Barack Obama, she now says it was simply “the choice that was right for me.” In the April 23 episode of her podcast, IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson — which she co-hosts with her brother — Obama and guest Taraji P. Henson get candid about living life in the spotlight and the criticisms they face as Black women.

“People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason, they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart,” Obama said of the headlines surrounding the inauguration and her husband’s solo outings. “It took everything in my power to not do the thing that was perceived as right, but do the things that was right for me, that was a hard thing for me to do.”

The author and activist said she had to “basically trick” herself into following through on her desire to skip the inauguration — by ensuring that she would have nothing to wear if she started feeling the pressure to attend.

“It started with not having anything to wear,” Obama said of the moment she finalized her decision. “I was like, if I’m not going to do this thing, I got to tell my team, I don’t even want to have a dress ready, right? Because it’s so easy to just say let me do the right thing.”

If her team didn’t prepare a dress for her, she knew she wouldn’t be able to change her mind. Attending events without her husband, or vice versa, all tie into Obama’s efforts to practice the “art of saying no” when it feels like the right decision.

“It’s a muscle that you have to build,” she explained of her philosophy. “And I think we suffered, because it’s almost like we started training late in life to build that muscle, right? I am just now starting to build it. I want our daughters, I want the young women out there… I want my girls to start practicing different strategies for saying no,” she continued. “After all that I’ve done in this world, if I am still showing them that I have to keep- I still have to show people that I love my country, that I’m doing the right thing, that I am always setting, going high all the time, even in the face of a lot of hypocrisy and contradiction, all I’m doing is keeping that crazy bar that our mothers and grandmothers set for us.”

[From People]

This is surprisingly powerful and profound: “I want my girls to start practicing different strategies for saying no.” Girls and women are conditioned – by families, partners, peers and society – to say yes, to go along, to accommodate, to not make waves, to not stand on business. That’s over now, at least it is for a lot of women, especially women of color. Practice saying “no, I don’t think so.” “No, I don’t want to.” “Nope, not doing that and I’m not going there.” “No” is a complete sentence as well. You don’t have to justify “no.” You can just say “no” and go about your day.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama sort of addresses the divorce rumors: ‘All of my choices are for me’

michelle-obama-sort-of-addresses-the-divorce-rumors:-‘all-of-my-choices-are-for-me’

This year, there are a lot of rumors flying around that Barack and Michelle’s marriage is not all that strong, especially after Michelle skipped Jimmy Carter’s funeral AND the Trump inauguration in January. While many of us completely understood why MO skipped Trump’s unhinged coronation, that snub came with tabloid reports that the Obamas don’t even live together at this point too. So, I don’t know. But Michelle is talking about it a little bit. She appeared on Sophie Bush’s podcast and MO talked about what her life is like now that she can do whatever the hell she wants.

Michelle Obama is opening up about her newfound independence, and how it fueled speculation that she and her husband Barack Obama were headed for divorce. In a new episode of Sophia Bush’s iHeart Radio podcast Work in Progress which landed on Tuesday, April 8, Michelle, 61, opened up about how her life has changed since leaving the White House and becoming an empty nester.

“I want to know what your life and your social life looks like right now,” Bush, 42 asked the former first lady.

“It is whatever I want, Sophia, It’s whatever I want,” Michelle responded. “It’s the first time in my life all of my choices are for me.”

Michelle went on to explain how her dual roles of mother to daughters Sasha and Malia and the first lady limited her decision-making in the past. Michelle noted that she made excuses like “I have to make sure the girls are okay, or my husband’s president, so I can’t do that” to avoid making decisions.

“Now, you know, I can’t blame my decisions and indecisions on anyone other than me,” Michelle said, adding, “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.”

She also touched upon how this newfound freedom combined with constant public scrutiny led to gossip and speculation about the state of her marriage. “That’s the thing that we as women struggle with — disappointing people. I mean, 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. This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself, right? But that’s what society does to us. We start actually going, what am I? What am I doing? What 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.”

[From People]

“That they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing. This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself, right?” I… don’t understand? Is she saying that she’s a grown woman making decisions for herself – reportedly, decisions like spending the bulk of her time away from her husband – and that people are making that into rumors of divorce? It can be both, Michelle! For goodness sake. For what it’s worth, I don’t think Michelle really cares, and that’s the larger point. She’s heard the divorce rumors and she DGAF. And she’s not going to slap on a happy face just to keep up appearances or stop the rumors. She’s just going to live her life and do whatever she wants. Good for her, truly. I respect that, I admire that. But I also think the Obama marriage is in a struggle era.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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Kylie Kelce Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama: Barack wanted a third child, ‘and I was like ‘Dude.”

michelle-obama:-barack-wanted-a-third-child,-‘and-i-was-like-‘dude.”

First it was the Duchess of Sussex’s Archetypes and now it’s Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast – both women dethroned Spotify’s “golden boy” douchebag Joe Rogan from the top of the pod charts. Kylie’s podcasting success is no surprise – she’s a very normal person married to one of the most beloved retired football players in the country. She’s got the relatable-mom-married-to-a-sports-bro act down pat. Her family is basically a sitcom already. All of which to say, it does not surprise me at all that Kylie is booking some big-name guests. In this week’s NGL pod, Kylie spoke to Michelle Obama. They seemed to bond about so much – having daughters, being early-to-bed people and more. Michelle also revealed that her husband wanted a third child, and whether she would ever run for president.

Michelle Obama is content with being a mother of two. The former first lady, who shares daughters Malia Obama, 26, and Sasha Obama, 23, with her husband, former president Barack Obama, got candid with Kylie Kelce about her and Barack’s differing opinions on the size of their family on the March 20 episode of Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast.

“I was like, I think I’ve been lucky with these two,” Michelle said of Malia and Sasha. “Barack was like, ‘We should have a third,’ and I was like, ‘Dude.’ ” Kylie, 32, who is currently pregnant with her fourth child with husband Jason Kelce, noted of Michelle’s girls, “Two good sleepers, I’d call it too.” The Becoming author agreed, adding, “You know, I’m thinking we’re gonna get a crazy one.”

Getting candid about her fears from early motherhood, Michelle said, “I think the sadness or the postpartum that I felt with my kids really came from, like, you love these babies so much. You immediately, you’re connected, and you think, ‘Oh my god, all you have is me. I feel so bad for you. I wish you had a parent.’ ”

Michelle and Kylie, who are both mothers to girls, also quipped about their husbands being girl dads. “That’s because that’s what your husband deserved,” Michelle told Kylie. “That’s what I told Barack, ‘Dude, you need a bunch of women in your life to smack you around.’”

And while she’s been approached about running for president countless times, Michelle added that she’d never consider it, due mostly to her role as a mother.

“I wanted them to have the freedom of not having the eyes of the world on them,” she explained. “And so when people ask me would I ever run, the answer is no. If you ask me that, then you have absolutely no idea the sacrifice that your kids make when your parents are in that role.”

Noting that she’s “not interested in politics in that way,” the author added, “The thought of, like, putting my girls back into that spotlight when they are just now establishing themselves. I think we’ve done enough … they’ve already served their time.”

[From People]

It’s still crazy to me that Democrats still eagerly pitch MO as their dream candidate when she’s spent years and years saying the same thing, which is that she has absolutely no interest in politics. That’s especially true at this point, after she saw what happened in the last election. As for Barack wanting another kid and MO shutting it down… she’s spoken and written about how tough those early years were when their girls were young, and how she felt like Barack wasn’t pulling his weight as a father. I imagine that, more than anything, was the biggest factor in not wanting a third.

In this clip, MO and Kylie talk about how they love to go to bed early. It truly is one of the best gifts you can give yourself at a certain age – a quiet early bedtime.

.@MichelleObama is not gonna lie: bedtime is the best time of the day!

Full episode drops on 3/20! pic.twitter.com/vznStVndQi

— Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce (@nglwithkylie) March 19, 2025

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Instagram.

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Barack Obama Michelle Obama

Rumors about the state of the Obamas’ marriage are flying around DC

rumors-about-the-state-of-the-obamas’-marriage-are-flying-around-dc

When Barack and Michelle Obama left the White House in January 2017, they decided to buy a place in Washington so that their daughters could finish high school with all of their friends. The Obamas bought a $8.1 million home in one of the ritzier DC neighborhoods and they gave their daughters that stability post-White House. Over the years, the Obamas have expanded their real estate holdings – they bought land in Hawaii and built a home there, and in 2019, they purchased an estate in Martha’s Vineyard. Once Malia and Sasha went to college, Barack and Michelle traveled more and spent more time outside of DC. I’m honestly not sure why they would even keep their DC home, since both of them reportedly prefer their other homes.

Anyway, the Obamas’ real estate and living situation has come up in recent days because of Michelle’s open refusal to attend the Trump inauguration. She made sure everyone knew about it and it unsurprisingly became a major story ahead of the inaugural. Michelle’s non-attendance also called attention to the constant rumors about the state of the Obama marriage, because Michelle also did not attend Jimmy Carter’s funeral. Sources close to Michelle insist that her refusal to attend these events is solely about her hatred for Donald Trump. And yet the “marriage trouble” rumors persist. Well, now Page Six says that there’s a lot of DC dinner chatter about the Obamas’ marriage too, especially because Michelle is never in DC anymore.

After weeks of speculation that the most famous marriage in politics was in trouble, Barack Obama posted a fawning tribute to the “love of his life,” Michelle Obama, in honor of her 61st birthday on Friday. “You fill every room with warmth, wisdom, humor, and grace — and you look good doing it. I’m so lucky to be able to take on life’s adventures with you. Love you!,” he wrote on Instagram, beneath a photo of the casually-dressed couple holding hands over dinner. “Love you, honey!” his wife quickly replied.

The former president, one of the most savvy political operators ever to take the Oval Office, posted the message amid rampant rumors that all was not well in his marriage. It began when former first lady Michelle failed to join her husband at Jimmy Carter’s funeral on January 9 — and heated up even more when it was announced she would not be attending Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

“You cannot tell Michelle what to do — no one can.” said a source who has worked with the Obamas, of her decision to skip the swearing-in.”That’s why she could not be persuaded to stump for Joe Biden during the last election.”

A high-society insider added that the topic “is getting a lot of DC peeps talking. The noise is getting louder. I’m told she was furious at seeing her husband yukking it up with Trump at the Carter funeral.”

But those who know the Obamas — who share two grown daughters, Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23 — say the couple have always made it clear their marriage is not a fairytale. “They don’t pretend that they have this Camelot relationship,” said the source who has worked with them. “They’re not trying to present that they’re this magical couple.”

Even so, Michelle has been “checked out” of DC life ever since the couple left the White House back in January 2017, according to a Beltway insider. That’s led to “certainly nonstop chatter that Michelle is fed up with the political circus, and pretending everything is OK with Barack all the time,” said the high-society insider. “What this will all lead to is to be revealed in time.”

While it’s been reported that the Obamas’ primary residence is in the Kalorama neighborhood of DC — where, in June 2017, they bought a home for $8.1 million — Michelle is said to spend a lot of time on Martha’s Vineyard, where they own a $11.75 million ocean-front compound. Another source confirmed that Michelle is “mostly Martha’s Vineyard, never in DC,” and multiple others said they had been on the island last summer without Barack and appeared “happy and content.”

[From Page Six]

I don’t know if Michelle has checked out of her marriage, but I guarantee that she’s checked out of DC and the world of politics completely. I would also believe that the Obama marriage is fine, but like a lot of empty-nesters, they’re enjoying their freedom now that their girls are grown, and maybe that freedom for Michelle is “not having to interact with the Trumps or any Republican.”

Honestly though, Michelle’s retweet and the photo Barry used? LMAO. They’re not beating the divorce allegations, but what’s even funnier is that they don’t seem to care enough to beat the allegations.

Love you, honey! ❤️???? https://t.co/fiQaCYmQ02

— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) January 17, 2025

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.

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Michelle Obama politics

MAGAland ‘could not care less’ that Michelle Obama is snubbing the inauguration

magaland-‘could-not-care-less’-that-michelle-obama-is-snubbing-the-inauguration

The inauguration is on Monday. Monday is also a federal holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We’ll have some stories, but I’m mostly going to spend the day avoiding everything related to Donald Trump. I will not be alone – I suspect millions of Americans will simply tune out the inauguration and everything that will happen in the next four years. Michelle Obama’s office announced this week that she will be one of the Americans ignoring all things Trump. MO will not attend the inauguration and she’s reportedly still in Hawaii, on an extended vacation. She also skipped Jimmy Carter’s funeral, likely because protocol would have had her seated next to the Trumps. There were rumors that Michelle was skipping the inauguration for other reasons, but sources told People Magazine that her decision was solely about her disgust for Donald Trump. Now “sources” close to MAGA World are telling Page Six that they couldn’t care less about MO’s snub.

MAGA sources could not care less that Michelle Obama is snubbing Donald Trump’s inauguration, a source tells Page Six.

“They are having a good laugh,” a source says of those involved in planning the inaugural festivities. “They didn’t expect her to come anyway.”

A Democratic source tried to play down the diss, noting, “Donald Trump and Melania didn’t go to Joe Biden’s inauguration and nobody cared. No one said anything.”

Barack and Michelle Obamas’ office announced this week that Michelle will skip the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies on Jan. 20th, but that the former president will attend. Michelle also skipped Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Jan. 9 because she was on an “extended vacation” in Hawaii. She would have apparently been seated next to Trump.

One Republican source speculated, “It’s obvious that this was her way of protesting Trump. She hates him.”

Michelle attended Trump’s inaugural in 2017, and said of the experience on “The Light Podcast,” “To sit on that stage and watch the opposite of what we represented on display — there was no diversity, there was no color on that stage. There was no reflection of the broader sense of America.”

A source told Page Six previously that Michelle’s choice to not attend the inauguration is “deliberate.”

“She’s never been fake and she’s never been phony. She’s always been very deliberate about where and how she shows up,” the source said. “She showed up reluctantly for the election. They were united, but she doesn’t have to unify around [Trump]. She doesn’t have to say anything. Her absence speaks volumes.”

[From Page Six]

As I said before, I admire Michelle for opting out of this entire sh-tshow. She’s doing the same thing as many Black women have done post-election: walked away, protected their peace, and refused to engage with any of it. What I find most interesting though is that Michelle is really making a point to do this in public in advance of the inauguration. Her refusal to attend has become one of the biggest pre-inaugural stories. There were other options for her, you know? She could have announced her absence at the last minute, or she could have just said nothing and not shown up on Monday. Michelle wanted the public conversation, she’s inviting people to talk about it. My guess? She knew she would annoy the hell out of the Trumpers, because SHE is the conversation and not that guy. Which is why MAGAland is “hahaha, we don’t care” as they cry bitter tears.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.