Scandalous Rumors About Michelle Obama We Can't Ignore

Like others who have occupied the White House, Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have been rocked by many a scandal. However, not everything that has been said about them is true. While the Obamas have faced rumors as a couple, many of them have centered specifically on the former first lady. The far-right in particular seems to have a bone to pick with her. That’s unsurprising, considering that Michelle is among the most popular female figures in America and a possible threat to the opposition.

Michelle has maintained her popularity even amid plummeting admiration for political figures. It is no small feat. But being beloved might make successful people, particularly women, more susceptible to rumors. As a consequence, Michelle has had every aspect of her personal life dissected and criticized. From her marriage to Barack to the price of her clothes, her gender, career choices, and political intentions, social media always has something to say about her.

She has addressed divorce rumors more than once and reflected on the rumors that engulfed her daughters. For instance, she opened up about the drama that Malia Obama and Sasha Obama’s smoking caused. “Every weekend was a nightmare, because we had to work to make sure that them being regular teenagers didn’t wind up on Page Six,” she said on “Let’s Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa” in April 2025. Though she hasn’t addressed some of the more outrageous rumors, Michelle has stood up more often for herself and her family since leaving the White House.

For years, Michelle Obama has endured fake speculation about her gender identity. All it takes is a quick look on social media to see the extent users go to perpetuate the notion that she was born male, and how many others seem to believe it. “I’m curious how many of you truly believe Michelle Obama is a man?” one user asked on X alongside an old photo of Michelle and Barack Obama that had been altered to make her look masculine.

Commenters were quick to spout their thoughts. “How can anyone ignore what is directly in front of their eyes?” one argued, while another added: “Michael. No doubt at all.” The fake discourse was revived in April 2025, when critical netizens shared a snippet of an episode of her podcast, “IMO With Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson,” that they claimed confirmed she somehow identifies as male. “That warms my heart, particularly as a Black man,” she said in the clip.

The internet being the internet, people jumped to conclusions. “Did Michelle just admit she is a black man?” one X user asked. However, the snippet was purposely taken out of context. Michelle was hosting Marlon Wayans, the Black actor perhaps best known for starring in “Scary Movie,” and was referring to him, not herself. That was pretty clear, and even some of her detractors refused to take the bait. “I’m no Michelle Obama fan at all, but this is pretty obvious,” one user commented.

Michelle Obama and Barack Obama have faced divorce rumors for a while, ramping up after she sat out former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral in early January 2025 and Donald Trump’s inauguration weeks later. However, Michelle fired back at the divorce rumors, criticizing those who tied her absence to the status of her marriage. “We, as women, I think, struggle with disappointing people … [People] couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing,” she said on Sophia Bush’s “Work in Progress” podcast in April 2025.

The following month, she reiterated that she and Barack were doing just fine, adding that she would have no problem being open about marital struggles. “If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it,” she said on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast, adding: “I’m not a martyr. … I would be problem-solving in public.”

In July 2025, she hosted Barack on the “IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson” podcast and revealed that divorce had never come up. “There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting on my man,” she said. To her credit, Michelle has candidly shared about the difficulties they’ve faced as a couple, particularly after becoming parents and during his presidency. “There were 10 years where I couldn’t stand my husband,” she told Revolt TV in 2022, referring to when Malia and Sasha were young.

Ever since Barack Obama ended his tenure, the public has speculated that Michelle Obama will run for president at some point. In fact, Americans seemed to want her to. A July 2024 Reuters/Ipsos poll found that the former first lady was the only name capable of beating Donald Trump at the ballot box. In the lead-up to the election, articles went so far as to claim that the Democratic Party had decided to replace Joe Biden with Michelle. “When they moved the convention to Chicago, that was their tell, because they moved it to her hometown,” pundit Floyd Brown told The Western Journal in 2023.

That obviously didn’t happen, as Kamala Harris replaced Biden when he dropped out of the race. But the speculation just wouldn’t quit, even though Michelle has been very clear about her intentions. “As former First Lady Michelle Obama has expressed several times over the years, she will not be running for president,” a spokesperson said (via MSNBC). She has indeed been vocal about it for a long time.

In 2023, she told Oprah Winfrey on the Netflix special “The Light We Carry” that the presidency isn’t her calling. “Politics is hard. And the people who get into it … you’ve got to want it. It’s got to be in your soul, because it is so important. It is not in my soul. Service is in my soul. Helping people is in my soul,” she said (via Rolling Stone).

Throughout her tenure as first lady, Michelle Obama faced both praise and scrutiny over her fashion choices. While some loved her elegant style, others condemned Obama’s penchant for baring her shoulders. However, she faced more serious criticism when Americans began to wonder who was footing the bill. It was a valid question, considering some of her outfits cost more than some students’ tuition. In October 2016, for example, she sported a custom-made Versace gown estimated at a whopping $12,000 (seen above).

Because her office was reluctant to discuss the price tag on her wardrobe, Americans speculated that they must be paying for it. The issue gained enough traction that the Associated Press set out to investigate, finding that the taxpayers didn’t pay for Obama’s clothes. For the most part, she paid for them herself. “Mrs. Obama pays for her clothing. For official events of public or historic significance, such as a state visit, the first lady’s clothes may be given as a gift by a designer and accepted on behalf of the U.S. government. They are then stored by the National Archives,” her press secretary told the AP.

Even though the rumors that she used taxpayers’ money on clothes were dispelled, Obama continued to face criticism over her outfits years later. In 2024, Fox News dissected the price of what she wore to the Democratic National Convention in a clear effort to dismiss her message about greed. 

When Michelle Obama and Barack Obama signed a deal with Netflix in 2018, the network vowed the content would have no political bias. “This is not The Obama Network,” Netflix’s Ted Sarandos said at a New York event (via Variety). “There’s no political slant to the programming.” The Obamas also said they had no interest in tackling politics. Instead, they would explore an array of topics in an effort to educate while entertaining.

“Touching on issues of race and class, democracy and civil rights and much more, we believe each of these productions won’t just entertain, but will educate, connect and inspire us all,” Barack told The New York Times. However, that’s not how viewers saw it. As soon as the deal was announced, Netflix users threatened to boycott the network. “#NEWS: Barack and Michelle Obama just signed a major deal with #Netflix as producers. Translation: The Deep State acquired the world’s largest streaming network as a propaganda tool. Time to cancel your subscription,” an X user wrote.

While Netflix is doing more than fine, the sentiment about the Obamas’ promise to stay away from political content continued to be met with skepticism. For many, the couple used concealed messages to promote controversial ideas, such as Critical Race Theory. “[They] also pushed for Afrocentric revisionism on Netflix, News, TV and Hollywood movies after repealing the US ban on propaganda,” a X user argued, though Barack didn’t issue a ban on propaganda as the netizen claimed.