‘She took me back!’: Obamas joke about divorce on new podcast episode
After months of swirling rumors, former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama have addressed the speculation about their marriage directly — and together. Their conversation played out on the latest episode of Michelle’s podcast, co-hosted by her brother, Craig Robinson.
This podcast marked the couple’s first joint public appearance since the gossip gained momentum last year.
‘The episode everyone’s been waiting for’
Michelle and Craig welcomed the former president onto the podcast as Criag joked, “Wait, you guys like each other?”
While everyone laughed, Michelle replied, “Oh yeah really? The rumor mill.”
“She took me back!” Barack joked, adding that things were “touch and go” for some time.
“It’s so nice to have you both in the same room together,” Robinson said as they sat down.
Michelle replied: “I know, because when we aren’t, folks think we’re divorced.”
The three of them immediately addressed the rumors at the start of the more than hour-long episode. Robinson even told the story of a woman boldly addressing the claim and asking him, “What did he do?”
After reassuring her that things were fine, he said, “She was so happy, you would’ve thought I gave her a Christmas gift.”
Barack admitted he isn’t as plugged into the rumors and drama as people may think. “I don’t even know this stuff’s going on and then somebody will mention it to me and I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
A direct statement from Michelle
Despite the online speculation and extended time apart in the public eye, Michelle made it clear that the Obamas are solid.
“There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I’ve thought about quitting on my man,” Michelle said during the podcast. “And we’ve had some really hard times and we’ve 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.”
Timeline of speculation
It all began last year when rumors emerged online claiming Barack Obama was dating actress Jennifer Aniston. In Touch magazine featured a headline claiming to reveal “The Truth About Jen and Barack.”
Adding to the speculation, Meghan McCain discussed the rumors on her podcast.
“I’m not talking about TMZ. I’m not talking about Perez Hilton,” McCain said. “Very serious journalists telling me that they’re hearing that the Obama divorce rumors are true.”
Then, in April, Barack referred to a “deep deficit” with Michelle in a separate interview. The comment was made during a conversation at Hamilton College. There, he shared that his two-term presidency put a strain on their marriage. He’d been trying to reconnect by doing more “fun things” with his wife.
That same month, during an episode of Sophia Bush’s podcast, “Work in Progress,” Michelle addressed the rumors for the first time. She also made it clear that she’s making decisions for herself, hence her absences at recent public events.
Rumors were previously addressed
“That’s the thing that we, as women, I think we struggle with — disappointing people,” Michelle said. “So much so that this year people were –– they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself. They had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing. This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself.”
In June, she again responded — calling out “the instant gratification of Instagram” as a reason people feel the need to highlight every moment.
“We are 60. You are just not going to know what we’re doing every minute of the day,” she said on NPR’s “Wild Card” podcast.
In May, Barack and Michelle were recently spotted together in New York for dinner. It was their first public outing as a couple in months — and the first since the divorce rumors began making headlines.
Barack adds to the conversation about raising boys
A recent clip from a June episode of “IMO” was taken out of context, which also added to the divorce rumors.
“I’m so glad I didn’t have a boy. Because he would’ve been a Barack Obama,” Michelle joked.
She was discussing how to raise boys to be responsible men who show compassion.
“Teach him how to deal with the traffic stop, but also teach him how to communicate in a marriage and be a listening father and compassionate neighbor,” she said. “Somebody who’s gonna pay attention and care about something outside of himself.”
In Wednesday’s episode with Barack, the former president added to that conversation: “If you’re not thinking about what’s happening to boys and how they are being raised, then that can actually hurt women, and I would argue that some of the broad political trends we’ve seen not just in this country but around the world have to do with this sense of boys, men not feeling as if they are seen, feeling as if they count.”
He added: “That then makes them more interested in appeals by folks who say, ‘You know what, the reason you don’t feel respected is because women have been doing this or this group has been doing this or that group’s been doing this.’ And that is not a healthy place to be.”
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
