Barack, Michelle address separation rumours in joint appearance; ‘folks think we’re divorced’

To which Michelle responded, “That’s the rumour mill.”

Laughing off the speculations, Obama said, “She took me back!” and added that “It was touch and go for a while”.

Robinson continued, “It’s so nice to have you both in the same room together.”

Shutting down the rumours, Michelle quipped, “I know, ’cause when we aren’t, folks think we’re divorced.”

NEW: Barack & Michelle Obama address divorce rumors, promise everything is going great.

Michelle: “It’s my husband, y’all.”

Barack: “She took me back! … It was touch and go for a while.”

Craig Robinson: “It’s so nice to have you both in the same room together.”

Michelle:… pic.twitter.com/GhYYPf9Ol2

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 16, 2025

‘What did he do?’: Robinson recalls being questioned by a women about Michelle-Barack relationship

Robinson recalled an incident where a woman asked him if the former first couple were still together amid the rampant speculations surrounding their marriage.

“This woman came up to me. She was so nice. [She asked], ‘Can I have a picture?’ You know how you get the side hug? She was like, ‘What did he do? … He did something, didn’t he?’” Robinson said.

He then assured the women that both Michelle and Barack were going strong.

“She was so happy, you would have thought [Robinson] gave her a Christmas gift.”

To this, Obama jokingly remarked, “These are the kinds of things that I just miss. So 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?’”, acknowledging that he doesn’t usually know about the rumours doing the rounds on the internet.

Reaffirming their bond, Michelle said, “There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I’ve thought about quitting on my man.”

She further emphasised that she’s become a better person because of her husband, Barack.

“We’ve had some really hard times and… a lot of adventures, and I have become a better person because of the man I’m married to,” the former first lady said.

‘Chose to do what was best for me’: Michelle

The rumours about the former first couple’s separation began circulating after Barack attended several high-profile events alone, including US President Donald Trump’s inauguration and the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter.

Michelle has repeatedly dispelled the speculations around her marriage in a spate of podcasts, blaming her age and freedom to make choices for the whispers.

In April, the former first lady quashed the divorce rumours, emphasising that after being in the White House for eight years, she finally had the freedom to make choices based on what was best for her.

“I get to look at my calendar … and I chose to do what was best for me, not what I had to do, not what I thought other people wanted me to do,” she said on the “Work in Progress” podcast in April.

In the same month, she echoed the same sentiments in an episode of her podcast, stating, “My decision to skip the inauguration, what people don’t realise — or my decision to make choices at the beginning of this year that suited me, were met with such ridicule and criticism.”

“People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason that they had to assume that my marriage was falling apart,” she added.

In another podcast interview, she said that her newfound independence fueled the chatter around her marriage.

“The fact that people don’t see me going out on a date with my husband sparks rumours of the end of our marriage,” she 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. We’re 60, y’all.”

Michelle and Barack got married in Chicago in 1992, where they first met while working as lawyers. The couple has two daughters, Malia and Sasha.