If 2025 had a gossip MVP, it would have been the Obamas! The year kicked off with whispers, think pieces, and by summer, it turned into a full-blown phenomenon with several outlets and their readers wondering if Barack and Michelle were heading for splitsville. Spoiler alert: they were not. But the rumor mill was working overtime with every event, handshake, and comment going to tabloids.
Michelle Obama admitted she’s used to being the subject of “gossip,” as she told SXSW in March that negativity followed her and Barack “beyond” their White House years. But 2025 was the Super Bowl of speculation. The rumors started in January, when Michelle skipped former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral. Her decision didn’t need any explanation other than a statement of condolences. CNN later revealed she was in Hawaii on an “extended holiday,” which was the news cycle equivalent of tossing gasoline on a fire.
Suddenly, everyone was a body language expert and marriage counselor. Michelle’s absence led to a lot of rumors after videos of Barack laughing with Donald Trump emerged. According to Page Six, Michelle was “furious” after seeing her husband yukking it up with their nemesis. Commentators invoked Michelle’s “when they go low, we go high” mantra, even as many speculated that the marriage was headed low.
The ultimate jackpot came ten days later when Michelle Obama skipped Donald Trump’s second inauguration. Barack went solo, and every gossip columnist from Page Six to TMZ asked: was Michelle done with her husband and politics? Social media detectives went wild. But Michelle wasn’t having it. She was taking a personal break, not a marital one.
Thirty-two years together and you still take my breath away. Happy Valentine’s Day, @MichelleObama! pic.twitter.com/wiIJ0kstRm
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 14, 2025
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On an April episode of the IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson podcast, she said:
“People couldn’t believe that I was saying no for any other reason (…) they had to assume my marriage was falling apart.”
Then, January brought a new headline: Barack Obama and Jennifer Aniston?! Blogger Jessica Reed Kraus claimed a “source” said the Friends star confessed to a fling. The rumor was so wild it jumped from gossip blogs to InTouch Weekly covers and back. But behind this rumor was the decade-old satirical Economist piece imagining Obama sneaking out of Aniston’s apartment on a scooter, which had somehow morphed into an affair. Then, podcast hosts Lindsey Weber and Bobby Finger jokingly revived it, and some editors took it seriously. Aniston said on Jimmy Kimmel that there was no truth to the rumor. She added that she knows Michelle better than Barack.
Still, a fake “leaked DM” claiming Obama and Aniston were an item trended in early 2025. Barack Obama stayed above the fray except for a Valentine’s Day post: “Thirty-two years together and you still take my breath away. Happy Valentine’s Day. Surely, at that time, a few gossip columnists hit delete. By mid-2025, the Obamas had survived enough scandal. And while the tabloids tried to make them into the latest celebrity breakup, they became a masterclass in endurance.
Michelle summed it up:
“[There hasn’t] been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man.”
They proved once again that no amount of gossip (not even a fake affair) can outlast their brand!
NEXT UP: Obama Blasts Trump Over His Latest Chaotic Controversy, Says He’s ‘Damaged’ Democracy
