Reading Time: 3 minutes
For several weeks now, we’ve been reporting on the persistent rumors that Barack and Michelle are headed for divorce.
While neither party commented on the situation directly, there seemed to be numerous signs that something had changed within the Obamas’ marriage.
For starters, Barack made numerous solo public appearances at a time when he must have already caught wind of the rumors.
Observers figured that he must have known how the public would react, and the move might therefore be his subtle way of confirming that he and Michelle were headed for Splitsville.
But during a recent appearance on Sophia Bush’s podcast, Michelle quashed the divorce rumors.
She pointed out, quite reasonably, that she and Barack are both very busy people, and it makes perfect sense that they would attend events separately from time to time.
Michelle embraces the power of ‘no’
Speaking with Bush, Michelle revealed that in recent years, she’s been forced to turn down more invitations. And apparently, she’s found the experience empowering.
“The interesting thing is that when I say ‘no,’ for the most part, people are like, ‘I get it,’ and I’m OK,” Michelle explained, according to Page Six.
“And that’s the thing that we as women struggle with — disappointing people,” she continued.
“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.”
From there, Michelle laughed off the idea that her marriage was coming to an end, dismissing the rumors as the result of small minds and their inability to cope with the fact that she’s “a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself.”
“But that’s what society does to us,” she said.
“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.”
Yes, it seems that Michelle merely began pursuing her own interests — she launched a new podcast with her brother last month — and because of that, the whole world assumed she was getting divorced.
Her comments probably won’t put the rumors to bed completely.
But for now, we feel perfectly comfortable declaring that there’s no reason to believe these two are calling it quirs.
