Did Michelle Obama reveal in a podcast interview that she was in therapy because she is "transitioning" sexually? No, that's not true: The former first lady explained to interviewer Jay Shetty on his "On Purpose" podcast in April 2025 that she sought therapy to help her navigate the "next phase" of her life in which she is 60 years old and no longer has to raise her two daughters or be concerned about what her husband or the country needs. There was no mention or hint that the therapy is related to her sexual identity.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) shared on X on May 2, 2025. It included a video clip from the podcast with a caption that read:
Michelle Obama says she's in therapy now because she's 'transitioning.'
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: Screenshot of X.com by Lead Stories)
This is the transcript of the 1:21 video clip:
At this phase of my life, I'm in therapy right now because I'm transitioning. You know, I'm 60 years old. I've finished a really hard thing in my life with my family intact. I'm an empty nester. My girls are in, you know, they've been launched and now for the first time as I've said before every choice that I'm making is completely mine. I now don't have the excuse of well, my kids need this or my husband needs that or the country needs that so how do I think about this next phase and let me get some help let me unwind some old habits let me sort through some old guilt that I've been carrying around. Let me talk about how my relationship with my mother has affected how I think about things so I'm getting that tuneup for this next phase because I believe this is a whole nother phase in life for me and I now have the wisdom to know. Let me go get some coaching while I'm doing it so I've got other voices other than the people who know me best. I've got a new person that's getting to know me and seeing me completely new and hearing all these emotions, I am an advocate of it. Everybody needs to find their form of it. The best way they can.
This is the TikTok video (archived here) from which the X post clip was taken. Note that this clip is 38 seconds longer, providing more context:
@jayshetty 🚨Brand new podcast🚨with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson is out NOW on all platforms 🎙️ Search 'Jay Shetty Michelle Obama Craig Robinson' 🔎
♬ original sound - Jay Shetty
The X post did not specifically claim the referenced transition was sexual, but many of the commenters took it to mean that. Claims that Michelle Obama was born a man (our fact check) and has a penis (our fact check) have been promoted on social platforms for years.
Lead Stories debunked a similar claim just days before this debunking that Obama had referred to herself "as a Black man" on another podcast in April 2025. Read our fact check here.
