Featured Image Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, US News, Michelle Obama
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Celebrity, US News, Michelle Obama
Kumail Nanjiani has been forced to address one of the most outlandish celebrity rumours to plague the online world.
For over a year now, the comedian has been subjected to speculation that he and former first lady Michelle Obama previously became embroiled in a romantic love affair behind their spouses' backs.
Nanjiani, 47, was falsely said to have been playing away after being married to his writer and producer wife Emily V Gordon since 2007.
Meanwhile, 61-year-old Michelle has been with 44th president Barack Obama since the pair worked together at a Chicago law firm. The couple are also parents to two daughters.
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It's vital to note that the pair's supposed extra-marital romance doesn't actually come from any credible sources and there's no evidence that they have ever interacted at all.
No joint panel show appearance, no Instagram 'likes' - nothing.
With the gossip having first began circulating over a year ago, Nanjiani has grown tired of having claims about his love life splashed across the headlines - no matter how 'exciting' he admits to having found them when they first rolled around.
Appearing on Caleb Hearon's So True podcast this week, the Eternals actor spoke directly of the rumour that he was somehow 'having an affair with Michelle Obama', insisting he's actually 'never met' the much-loved humanitarian.
"I was so excited!" Nanjiani admitted. "My friend, our mutual friend pulled Emily aside and was like, 'Hey, so I heard that Kumail and Michelle Obama are like doing it.'
"And she was like, she wasn't even upset, but multiple people brought it up to me."
For anyone confused, he went on to confirm: "I have never met Michelle Obama."
It isn't just Nanjiani that became the centre of speculation regarding the Obama family.
A similar rumour befell Friends actress Jennifer Aniston a while ago, who was also falsely accused of having an affair with the 64-year-old former president.
Podcast host Hearon noted during the show: "There's been this persistent rumour that Barack is stepping out with Jen Aniston. But what I’m saying is, my friend Kumail, you’re up there with Jen Aniston in terms of affair rumours."
After joking that he and 56-year-old Aniston are 'affair partners', he went on to accuse the Obamas of 'slumming it' - quickly adding that he meant 'no shade to Jen'.
The actress herself previously addressed such allegations during an appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, claiming they are all 'absolutely untrue', but that she's 'not mad about' them.