Chicago – April 10, 2025
Michelle Obama recently shared why she’s been staying out of the spotlight and focusing more on herself. In a new podcast interview released Tuesday, the former First Lady opened up about her decision to take a step back from public life and explained that it has nothing to do with problems in her marriage.
Speaking on the “Work in Progress” podcast with actress Sophia Bush, Obama said that since leaving the White House and now having two grown daughters, she finally has the freedom to plan her time the way she wants.
“I could have made a lot of these decisions years ago,” she said, “but I didn’t let myself. I used my kids’ needs as an excuse to not do things for me.”
Now, she’s making different choices. “This year, I looked at something I was supposed to do and decided not to do it. I chose what was best for me, not what others expected of me,” she explained.
Obama has missed several major events recently, including former President Donald Trump’s second inauguration and the January state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter. These absences sparked rumors about her personal life, including speculation that she and former President Barack Obama might be having marriage troubles.
But she says that’s not true. “I still care about the things I’ve always cared about—girls’ education, public speaking, the Obama Presidential Library,” she said. “But as women, we struggle with saying no because we don’t want to disappoint people. So when I finally did, people assumed something was wrong in my marriage.”
Michelle and Barack Obama have been married for 32 years. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) in October, President Obama celebrated their anniversary and their life together.
