\n<\/p>\n
In a May 8, 1796 letter to John Jay<\/a>, George Washington wrote of his \u201cserious anxiety\u201d stemming from \u201cmisrepresentation,\u201d which would \u201cfrequently flow and spread before they can be dissipated by the truth.\u201d In other words, lies were rampant, and he was sick of this shit. Some 200 years later, another president can likely relate to the feeling, given persistent rumors that Jennifer Aniston<\/strong> is having a secret affair with former president Barack Obama<\/strong>, who, in another wild, specious, and unsupported blind item, is secretly separated from wife Michelle Obama<\/strong>.<\/p>\n A person with knowledge of the situation told Vanity Fair<\/em> that these rumors are categorically untrue, and a source close to Aniston also characterized the affair rumors to VF<\/em> as \u201cbeyond absurd.\u201d There\u2019s a conundrum for responsible journalists and exasperated subjects when trying to present the truth of a story like this one: If the people in question respond, they risk fueling the fire and stoking yet another leg of the news cycle. If they don\u2019t respond and deny, then, well, they\u2019re not denying a false report.<\/p>\n Before we get to the debunking, let\u2019s trace the thread: This fanfic scenario first surfaced via an August cover story of the print edition of tabloid In Touch Weekly<\/em>, claiming to expose \u201cThe Truth About Jen and Barack!\u201d (A spokesperson for In Touch<\/em> did not respond to Vanity Fair<\/em> by press time.) The cover further claimed: \u201cMichelle betrayed as Aniston steals her husband\u2019s attention,\u201d and helpfully added bullet points that read: \u201cThey\u2019re obsessed with each other\u201d and \u201cPower circles in Washington and Hollywood can\u2019t stop gossiping!\u201d (It\u2019s worth noting that James Heidenry,<\/strong> who was editorial director at In Touch<\/em> when the story ran, was also the masthead editorial director of a special magazine\u2014MAGAzine?\u2014dedicated to singing Donald Trump\u2019s praises<\/a>. In Touch<\/em> and the Trump hagiography are both published by A360 Media, formerly known as AMI, which came under fire for the catch-and-kill operation at the National Enquirer<\/em><\/a> to protect Donald Trump\u2019s reputation.)<\/p>\n In October, Aniston appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live<\/em><\/a> and flatly denied the claim that she and the former president were having or had an affair.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is absolutely untrue,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is no truth.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve met him once,\u201d Aniston said of the former president, adding, \u201cI know Michelle more than him.\u201d<\/p>\n She did joke that, \u201cOf all the calls you get from your publicist where you\u2019re like, oh no, what\u2019s it gonna be, or emails saying some cheesy tabloid is going to make up a story and then it\u2019s that<\/em>, I was not mad at it.\u201d<\/p>\n That answer might be different now that the peanut gallery is at it again, seeming to coincide with Michelle Obama\u2019s absence at both President Jimmy Carter\u2019s funeral and Donald Trump\u2019s inauguration.<\/p>\n Thanks to accounts like Instagram gossip aggregator DeuxMoi<\/a>, who includes an in-bio CYA disclaimer<\/a> that \u201cthis account does not claim all information published is based in fact,\u201d the scuttlebutt has persisted. On Tuesday, January 14, the account posted that \u201csomeone [DeuxMoi] trusts did text me that a week ago\u201d in regards to the former First Couple being separated, \u201cbut I don\u2019t really know for sure.\u201d The following Thursday, @deuxmoi published a new podcast episode and touched on both facets of the story. Of the separation rumor, Deux said: \u201cI heard that they were separated from somebody I know, but I don\u2019t know, I felt like it wasn\u2019t viable. It was just the rumor mill churning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been getting so many questions about it,\u201d she said, not acknowledging that, you know, posting those not-saying-just-saying types of stories might be why people keep asking.<\/p>\n DeuxMoi did not respond to Vanity Fair<\/em>\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n Then we\u2019ve got the garden-variety \u201cbody language experts<\/a>\u201d and the my-sister\u2019s-catsitter\u2019s-cousin\u2019s-teacher\u2019s-son \u201cleaked DMs\u201d shared by who-the-hell \u201cinfluencers.\u201d Listen, they don\u2019t let just anyone<\/em> use that siren emoji\u2014it must be true. Wait, what\u2019s that? They do<\/em> let anyone use it? Oh.<\/p>\n One thing the divorce doomsayers almost all point to is Michelle\u2019s whereabouts during recent presidential events.<\/p>\n Sure, maybe she skipped out on former President Jimmy Carter\u2019s funeral and this month\u2019s inauguration because she was trying to avoid a man, but consider that the man in question wasn\u2019t Barack Obama, but Donald Trump. At the 2024 Democratic National Convention<\/a>, Michelle delivered a stirring speech<\/a> cautioning Americans to not \u201cbe our own worst enemies\u201d and decrying Trump\u2019s \u201cpetty\u201d and \u201cunpresidential\u201d ways. \u201cWhy would we normalize that type of backward leadership?\u201d she asked. \u201cDoing so only demeans and cheapens our politics.\u201d Is it surprising that she declined the chance to sit politely on that stage and pretend to be OK with a second Trump presidency?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n