Over the past year, rumors have been swirling that Barack and Michelle Obama are heading for divorce. According to these rumors, Barack and Michelle have been living “separate lives” for quite some time.
Now, Michelle is admitting that she is leaving certain “things behind” as she finally feels like she’s her full self in her 60s. This comes as the Obama divorce rumors continue to spread like wildfire.
Michelle Sounds Off
Michelle, 62, sat down with the presidential biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin on Saturday. The former First Lady said that everything that she does and wants to do moving forward “will be completely based on” what she needs.
“I really feel fully in myself in my 60s now,” Michelle said. “My kids have grown, my husband is finished with the hard things and so I move with an intention of doing things that bring me joy and leaving the other things behind.”
Michelle went on to say that she plans to work in “girls” education. She is also focused on her podcast, IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson. Her co-host is her older brother.
“We’re really focused on getting out of the way and nurturing the next generation of leaders,” Michelle explained. “I just met with a group of young podcasters that our Higher Ground audio platform is supporting.”
Michelle and Barack, 64, launched Higher Ground Productions in 2018. Their goal was to produce content that is diverse and socially conscious. Yesterday, we reported that Higher Ground was splitting from Netflix and going independent.
“That’s one of the reasons why I started my podcast is because it’s a way to attract a base of younger voices in culture and in music and art,” Michelle concluded. “Having me there as a face and a platform gives them a little light. So I think, you know, another decade of work, and then I’m gonna sit on a beach somewhere.”
Obama Divorce Rumors
This comes at a difficult time for Michelle and Barack. Indeed, over the past year, the Obamas have been plagued by rampant rumors that they are divorcing.
These divorce rumors escalated in a big way back in January of last year, when Michelle skipped both the funeral of Jimmy Carter and the inauguration of Donald Trump. She was the only living former First Lady to miss each of these events. This forced Barack to attend both events alone.
“I have been hearing this rumor that the Obamas are getting a divorce by reputable people,” political commentator Meghan McCain said on reporter Tara Palmeri’s podcast in 2025. “I’m not talking about TMZ, I’m not talking about Perez Hilton, although I love him, he’s my friend.”
“I’m talking about like very serious journalists telling me that they’re hearing that the Obama divorce rumors are true,” she continued.
“We’ve heard that for a long time,” replied Tara, who has long covered Washington politics. “Like I just heard that they live separate lives.”
Listen to Meghan and Tara talk more about this in the clip below.
Michelle Accused Of ‘Really Disliking’ Barack
Michelle launched her IMO podcast back in March of last year. Since then, Michelle has used it to bash Barack and air his dirty laundry seemingly every chance she gets.
In fact, Michelle has complained about Barack so many times on her podcast that the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has claimed that the former First Lady “really dislikes her husband, and it’s super obvious.”
“I’m not just saying that to be catty,” Tucker explained. “I think I’m trying to feel compassion for her but her hostility toward the guy is unbelievable.”
Tucker’s fellow former Fox News host Megyn Kelly was quick to agree. She pointed out that “everything Michelle says about her husband is negative.”
“I almost never say negative things about Doug,” Megyn added, referring to her own husband Doug Brunt. “He’s not perfect but when I think about him, I don’t immediately go to whatever is negative. I go to what’s positive and what I love about him.”
The Obama’s Respond
Back in July of last year, Barack appeared on Michelle’s IMO podcast. There, they desperately tried to shoot down the escalating divorce rumors.
“There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man,” Michelle claimed. “And we’ve had some really hard times. So we 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.”
“These are the kinds of things that I just miss, right?” Barack chimed in to add. “So I don’t even know this stuff’s going on. And then somebody will mention it to me and I’m all like, ‘what are you talking about?'”
Unfortunately for the Obamas, however, many are still not buying their claims that their marriage is still going strong.
Michelle’s latest comments about leaving certain “things behind” will certainly do nothing to help her case that all is well in her marriage. Only time will tell if the Obama marriage will actually survive!