Barack Obama Refuses To Come to Wife Michelle's Aid Amid Her Nasty Feud With Stephen A. Smith — As ESPN Star Slams Former First Lady for 'Real Housewives' Dig
Barack Obama hasn't said much when it comes to defending his wife.
Aug. 4 2025, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
Barack Obama has steered clear of his wife Michelle's random feud with Stephen A. Smith, after the former first lady started the beef with a brutal comment about the ESPN personality, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Michelle made her thoughts on Smith and the sports network clear during an episode of her podcast IMO, comparing it to a bad reality show.
Smith is currently in a feud with the former first lady.
'I Didn't Appreciate It'
"If I listen to ESPN for an hour, it's like watching the Real Housewives of Atlanta," Michelle said. "I mean, you know, it's the same drama, and they're yelling at each other and they don't get along, you know? I mean, Stephen A Smith, he's just like every other talk show host."
However, the comments got under Smith's skin, as he went off on the 61-year-old while on his show, calling her out for one of her previous comments about Black Trump voters.
He raged: "You said a vote for Trump was a vote against you and a vote against y'all as women. I want to stay for the record, I took major offense to that. Black men don't just love our black women, we revere y'all.
"It's who we are. And to say what you said back then, I think to this day, is the only thing that I didn't like that you said, I didn't appreciate it."
Where's Barack?
Barack has yet to defend his wife amid the feud.
During the 2024 presidential election, at a rally in Michigan in October, Michelle admitted she was "a little frustrated" after discovering why some voters weren't on board with candidate Kamala Harris.
"I am asking y'all from the core of my being to take our lives seriously, please," she pleaded on stage. "Do not put our lives in the hands of politicians, mostly men, who have no clue or do not care about what we, as women, are going through."
Smith said of the comments on his show: "You will never hear me utter a negative word about you, but I respectfully disagreed and still remain pretty salty about what you said about us."
Despite the back-and-forth, Barack has yet to come out in defense of his wife, as rumors suggest the high-profile couple's marriage may be falling apart.
Smith called out Michelle for her previous comments on Black Trump voters.
"They love each other deeply, but marriage is work,” a source previously told Hollywood insider Rob Shuter. "They’re committed to doing that work – even now.
"Barack’s always been comfortable with distance, and Michelle’s always been about presence. That dynamic hasn’t changed, even all these years later.”
However, the pair were quick to bury the speculation when Barack made his first appearance on Michelle's podcast.
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Barack and Michelle recently shut down divorce rumors.
Michelle noted how when she and Barack, 64, aren't in the same room together, "folks think we're divorced."
"There hasn't been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting on my man. And we've had some really hard times," she told listeners. "So we 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."
But an insider claimed the show of unity may not be enough: "Everyone around the Obamas is saying the show was just a very well-orchestrated, and even almost scripted, denial of the truth; they are done!"
