Michelle Obama has spoken out against rumours that her marriage to Barack Obama might be in trouble.
The former first lady has not accompanied her husband to several high-profile events – including Donald Trump’s inauguration and the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter – fuelling speculation that they might be separating.
Without explicitly mentioning these occasions, Mrs Obama told the Work in Progress podcast hosted by actress Sophia Bush that she was now in a position to control her own calendar as a “grown woman”.
She said that people were not able to believe that she was “making a decision” for herself and instead “had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing”.
Mrs Obama shared that she felt some guilt for stepping back from certain duties.
“That’s the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with like disappointing people,” she said.
“I mean, so much so that this year 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.
“This couldn’t be a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself, right? But that’s what society does to us.”
Mrs Obama also said in the podcast: “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.”
While her absence from President Trump’s inauguration was seen as a break from tradition, she did give a high-profile speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this past summer.
“Hope is making a comeback,” she told a Chicago crowd of thousands at the DNC, as she urged them to throw their weight behind then-presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Despite carving out more time for herself, the former first lady said she still finds time to “give speeches, to be out there in the world, to work on projects. I still care about girls’ education”.
The Obamas celebrated their 32nd anniversary last year in October.
Mrs Obama has previously been open about the struggles she faced in her marriage due to Mr Obama’s political ambitions and time in the White House in her best-selling memoir, Becoming.
She wrote in the book that her husband’s aspirations resulted in loneliness and exhaustion.