Former first lady Michelle Obama was noticeably absent from President Trump’s inauguration. While that wasn’t surprising given the bad blood between the two, it came after she also didn’t attend the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. At both events, former first ladies were in attendance alongside their husbands, making her absence the fuel the rumor mills needed to start.
Speaking on the “Work in Progress” podcast hosted by Sophia Bush, Obama addressed the divorce claims head on.
"The interesting thing is that when I say 'no,' for the most part, people are like, 'I get it' and I'm OK," she began. "That's the thing that we, as women, I think we struggle with disappointing people, you know?"
She continued, "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."
Obama said now that her children are grown up and her husband is out of public office, she has more flexibility with her schedule, but the way she's chosen to spend her time doesn't always align with what people expect.
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“That’s what society does to us. We start actually finally going, What am I doing? Who am I doing this for?’ And if it doesn’t fit into the stereotype of what people think we should do, then it gets labeled as something negative and horrible," she said.
Obama explained she's in the process of making "big-girl decisions" about her life "and to own it fully."
"Because if not now, when?” she continued. “What am I waiting for? What am I going to spend the next 20 years, you know, because look, the, you know, the summers are … We’re in summer countdown at 61, right?”
She added, “Now is the time for me to start asking myself these hard questions of who do I want? Who do I truly want to be every day?”
