Former First Lady Michelle Obama scoffed at gossip that she and former President Barack Obama were on the verge of divorce in a new interview published Thursday.
"The fact that people don’t see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumors of the end of our marriage," Obama told NPR’s "Wild Card" podcast host Rachel Martin.
"It’s like, OK, so we don’t Instagram every minute of our lives. We are 60," she joked. "You just are not going to know what we're doing every minute of the day."
"Yes, I guess we're famous, but we’re 60. We don't take selfies," she added.
MICHELLE OBAMA PRAISES BARACK OBAMA'S PARENTING DESPITE THE 'GRANDEUR' OF HIS JOB
Former First Lady Michelle Obama shot down divorce rumors on NPR's "Wild Card" podcast. (NPR "Wild Card"/Youtube screenshot)
Obama opened up about the public scrutiny that still follows her family years after leaving the White House.
Earlier this year, the former first lady's decision to skip former President Jimmy Carter's funeral and President Donald Trump's inauguration – both of which her husband attended – fueled speculation her marriage was in trouble.
Obama explained that she hade made a personal choice this year to only attend events she wants to go to rather than go along with expectations.
"One of the major decisions I made this year was to stay put and not attend funerals and inaugurations and all the things that I'm supposed to attend," she told NPR. "That was a part of me using my ambition to say, 'Let me define what I want to do, apart from what I'm supposed to do, what the world expects of me.' And I have to own that. Those are my choices. Whatever the backlash was, I had to sit in it and own it. But I didn't regret it, you know? It's my life now, and I can say that, now."
OBAMAS SEEN TOGETHER FOR 1ST TIME IN 6 MONTHS AS ANALYST SEES ‘NO LOVE LOST’ AMID DIVORCE MURMURS
Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama embraces her husband, former U.S. President Barack Obama, on stage during Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 20, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Blake)
Obama, who co-hosts a podcast with her brother, Craig Robinson, said she would still use her platform, but she was over politics and wouldn't be "campaigning for another candidate" in the future.
"If it's not fun for me, selfishly, then let's not do that," she explained of the life philosophy she's embraced as of late.
The former first lady dismissed divorce rumors during other interviews this year.
"If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it. My brother would know it. I’d be problem-solving in public. I’m not a martyr," she said on "The Diary of a CEO" podcast in May.
She also slammed the divorce speculation during an interview in April.
Former US President Barack Obama speaks with President-elect Donald Trump as they attend the State Funeral Service for former US President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2025. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)
"[T]hat's the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with, like disappointing people. I mean so much so that this year people were, 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, you know?" she told actress Sophia Bush. "This couldn't be a grown woman just making a set of decisions herself, right? But that's what society does to us."