Michelle Obama Parting Ways With Barack? Former U.S. First Lady Clears the Air

Former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has addressed speculation surrounding her divorce from former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Speaking to actress Sophia Bush on the Work In Progress podcast, she shut down the rumors and clarified that she was simply prioritizing herself. She also spoke about how her life has changed since leaving the White House eight years ago. With her daughters now grown, she said she has found the freedom to reassess her priorities and focus on her well-being.

"I could have made a lot of these decisions years ago, but I didn't give myself that freedom. Maybe even as much as I let my kids live their own lives, I used their lives as an excuse for why I couldn't do something," she said, according to CNN.

Rumours about Michelle Obama separating from Barack Obama were fueled when she skipped both the inauguration ceremony of President Donald Trump and the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter earlier this year.

Revealing that stepping away from certain public events was a deliberate act of self-care, she said: “I get to look at my calendar — which I did this year — and that 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 me. Not what I had to do, not what I thought other people wanted me to do.”

Addressing the discomfort many women feel when prioritizing themselves and their well-being, she observed: “That's the thing that we as women, I think, struggle with — like disappointing people. I mean, so much so that this year, people couldn't even fathom that I was making a choice for myself. They had to assume that my husband and I were divorcing.”

Since leaving the White House Michelle Obama ha authored two books: Becoming and The Light We Carry