The Obamas have faced rumors of affairs since they first appeared in the spotlight in the early 2000s, and scrutiny of their marriage followed them throughout the former president’s two terms in office and beyond.
In 2013, the National Enquirer speculated that their marriage of more than 20 years had dissolved after a series of fights sparked by accusations of infidelity and a beaming selfie President Obama took with the Danish prime minister.
Photographs of Barack taking the selfie with Helle Thorning-Schmidt (as an unimpressed Michelle looks on) swept the internet, with claims that the Obamas even switched seats to separate the two world leaders.
However, the Obamas will not have a photo opportunity on Monday, as Michelle broke protocol by missing Donald Trump’s inauguration, just days after her husband put on a friendly display with the Republican.
A source reportedly said the former First Lady refuses to “be disingenuous” about her loyalties, in stark contrast to her husband’s recent efforts to “unify.”
There has been no official explanation for her absence, prompting online speculation that there could be some other explanation for why she is not appearing alongside her husband.
It’s just the latest in a series of sensational rumors about the Obamas’ marriage.
Photos of Barack taking a selfie with Helle Thorning-Schmidt, while an unimpressed Michelle looks on, took the internet by storm in 2013.

Jennifer Aniston is seen with Michelle Obama at a fundraising event in Hollywood for Barack Obama’s 2007 presidential campaign.

The couple, who met at university, celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary in October.

Jimmy Kimmel gave the Hollywood actress the magazine that made accusations about her and the former president.
With the current rumors, on Friday, the former president shared a photo of him and his wife sitting at a table holding hands with the caption: ‘Happy birthday to the love of my life @MichelleObama. You fill every room with warmth, wisdom, humor and grace, and you look good doing it. I am very lucky to be able to embark on life’s adventures with you. I love you!’
This may have been to quell any rumors that the relationship is in a rocky state.
Late last year, Friends actress Jennifer Aniston, 55, was romantically linked to Obama, 63, in an unfounded story published in a gossip magazine, whose cover declared it contained “the truth about Jen and Barack “.
This was compounded by the hosts of a popular pop culture podcast: Who? Weekly, who claimed, without evidence, that the couple was “living separate lives” while he and Aniston were having a full-blown affair.
The Hollywood star strongly denied the claims during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in October.
‘Of all the calls you get from your publicist where you say ‘Oh no, what’s it going to be?’ or you get an email saying that some cheesy tabloid is going to make up a story, and then it’s…’
“I wasn’t mad about it,” she later added with a chuckle, before clarifying that the story is “absolutely false.”

With the current rumors, on Friday, the former president shared a photo of him and his wife sitting at a table holding hands in a birthday post.
‘So the truth about Jen and Barack is that there is no truth?’ Jimmy confirmed.
Jennifer continued: ‘I met him (Obama) once. I know Michelle better than him.
Jokingly, Jimmy asked, ‘Is there any truth about you and Michelle?’
“That’s not true,” he said with a smile.
In 2007, a star-studded Hollywood gala honoring the then-young senator-in-the-making is believed to have been the first (and only) time Aniston met Barack Obama.
Photos taken at the event show her smiling with her arm around Michelle Obama’s waist, as the future First Lady smiles for the camera and Morgan Freeman and other celebrities enjoy the party behind them.
The event was organized by Tinsel Town bigwigs Steven Spielberg and his DreamWorks co-founders David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Tickets cost $2,300 each (the maximum individual donation for a federal campaign) and were purchased by the likes of Tom Hanks, Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington, according to the New York Times.

Jennifer addressed the rumor on Jimmy Kimmel Live! where he said it was “absolutely false”

The duo cleared up any speculation about the story during Wednesday’s episode.
With the rich and famous signing checks while drinking with the Obamas and their staff, the event reportedly raised at least $1 million in what was the first major event of the Democratic presidential campaign.
A VIP group of attendees (those with at least 20 tickets to their name) were invited to have a private dinner with the Obamas at the Gethen mansion after the event. It’s unclear if Aniston was among them.
Fast forward to Obama’s first term in office and he and Michelle became one of the most scrutinized couples in the world, with their every move watched and photographed.
In late 2013, the National Enquirer claimed that the Obamas’ marriage had dissolved after Michelle discovered that her Secret Service bodyguards were covering up her infidelity.
They were fighting incessantly, the tabloid said, citing anonymous sources, after he posed for a selfie with Denmark’s married leader Helle Thorning-Schmidt at a memorial service for Nelson Mandela.
Mrs. Obama was photographed sitting on the other side, looking unamused as her husband and Thorning-Schmidt shared a joke and he patted her on the shoulder.
The First Lady, the Enquirer stated, would support her husband until his presidency ended.
But more than a decade later this has not happened, and the couple has continued with public statements and displays of love for each other that have earned them a large fan base.
The couple, who met as young lawyers working for the same Chicago firm in 1989, celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary in October and delighted their army of fans by sharing a photo of them hugging in a New York museum.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better partner and friend to go through life with,” Obama said in a message accompanying the photo.
She echoed the sentiment, saying: ’32 action-packed years with my love! Through it all, thank you for always supporting me, being by my side, and finding ways to make me smile. I love you, @Barack Obama.”
However, like any marriage, it hasn’t all been easy, as the Obamas themselves have been happy to admit.
Michelle said in a 2022 panel discussion that for a decade, when her daughters Malia and Sasha were young, she hated her husband for much of their marriage.

The former president and his wife were married at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago on October 3, 1992.
“People think I’m being malicious; it’s like there were ten years when I couldn’t stand my husband.”
In 2023, Obama also addressed the topic of marital difficulties in an interview with CBS and was asked about Michelle’s comments the previous year. “Let me say this: It certainly helps to be out of the White House and have a little more time with her,” he said.
The former first lady, who has continued to fulfill the duties expected of her as the wife of a former president since Obama left office, was notably absent from Jimmy Carter’s funeral, where her husband was seen laughing and snuggling with Trump.
Trump sat next to Obama and then revealed that they get along well despite their differences and past attacks on each other.
“I have to say, he seemed very friendly,” Trump said later.
But according to a source who spoke to Page Six, Michelle has no plans to soften her relationship with Trump, putting her at odds with her husband’s friendly efforts.

Former US President Barack Obama and former US First Lady Michelle Obama attend the unveiling of their portraits at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, on February 12, 2018.
Historically, this would be considered a monumental snub given that all former presidents and first ladies have attended the inauguration – even the president of the opposite party – unless they suffered health problems.
Trump and his wife Melania were the first to blow up the modern tradition of attending his successors’ inaugurations when he refused to attend Joe Biden’s four years ago.
When Mrs. Obama missed Carter’s funeral, it was immediately clear that she had a “scheduling conflict” that prevented her from attending. At that time he was enjoying a long vacation in Hawaii.

When they first had children, the couple had some fights, as Barack traveled on a six-hour round trip to work in the Illinois Senate and sometimes spent days away due to his job.
But on this occasion, his office has made no effort to explain his absence.
He previously admitted that he found it difficult to attend Trump’s first swearing-in ceremony in 2017, and said he burst into tears afterwards.
‘She has never been fake and she has never been fake. “She’s always been very deliberate about where and how she appears,” a source said of her decision to miss this one.
And they continued: ‘She ran for election reluctantly. They were united, but she doesn’t have to rally around (Trump). She doesn’t have to say anything.
“His absence says it all.”