Barack and Michelle Obama have firmly dismissed rumours suggesting their marriage is in trouble, calling the claims baseless.
The couple addressed the speculation during a recent episode of The Michelle Obama Podcast, which Michelle co-hosts with her brother, Craig Robinson. Former President Obama said he had no idea the rumours were circulating until someone brought it to his attention.
“These are the kinds of things that I just miss,” he said. “I don't even know this stuff is going on, and then somebody mentioned it to me, and I was like, What are you talking about?”
Rumours about the Obamas’ marriage had been growing online in recent months, largely due to Michelle Obama’s absence from some of her husband’s public appearances. Unverified reports and social media chatter fueled the narrative, prompting public curiosity about the state of their relationship.
Michelle Obama took the opportunity to set the record straight. She said that the idea of ending her marriage to Barack has never crossed her mind since they tied the knot in 1992.
"There hasn't been a single moment in our marriage when I thought about quitting on my man,” she said. “We have had some really hard times, we have 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.”
While the Obamas reaffirmed their strong bond, the topic comes at a time when divorce rates are rising in Kenya. According to the Kenya Vital Statistics Report 2024 from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the proportion of women reported as divorced or separated increased from 4.6 percent in 1989 to 9.3 percent by 2022.
Currently, about 15 percent of marriages in Kenya end in divorce—still lower than the 30 percent divorce rate seen in some other sub-Saharan African countries. The report also shows that divorce and separation are more common among women aged 15 to 49, with older couples more likely to separate than younger ones.
Although public figures like the Obamas may become targets of speculation, their public comments highlight a commitment to transparency and mutual support, even in the face of rumours.
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