Inauguration weekend: Barack Obama goes solo at private dinner amid Michelle Obama divorce rumours

All the while Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have been plagued by divorce rumours, the former US president was seen alone at a Saturday night inauguration weekend celebration in Washington, D.C.

The dinner party was held at A-list restaurateur Stephen Starr’s Osteria Mozza in Georgetown, which the former first lady skipped just like her pre-announced absence at Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

Barack Obama at private Washington DC dinner party without Michelle Obama

Sources claimed that Mr Obama’s attendance at the restaurant sent others in utter disbelief as walked upstairs for the dinner party, per Page Six’s Sunday report. While he is believed to have kept things jovial, “he didn’t stop and take photos with people.” Contrary to that claim, Obama did, in fact, make an exception to click a snap alongside Stephen Starr, as validated by his Instagram Story update.

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Barack Obama still had company

Jessica Sidman, a food editor for the Washington Post, also corroborated the report, sharing visual proof on social media. “Obama dined in a private room at @osteriamozzadc tonight. Tipsters say fellow diners applauded when he walked in the side entrance with Secret Service,” she wrote on her IG Stories with a distant picture of the man himself posing for a picture with an intimate group.

Though sans Michelle Obama, the ex-prez wasn’t necessarily left to his solitude at the soiree. President Joe Biden’s White House Chief of Staff, Jeff Zients, arrived shortly after he did, keeping him company.

Although the Obamas have been already caught in weeks-long speculations that all may not be well in marriage paradise, Barack attempted to quell that online fire by posting a tribute to the “love of my life” on her 61st birthday on Friday.

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Despite her absence at the Inauguration weekend party, Michelle shares her own history with Starr’s restaurant. Back in November, when the Georgetown establishment had merely opened weeks ago, she hosted a holiday dinner for her team. Per previous reports, she purportedly “christened” it as the “California-style Italian” eatery.

Why Michelle Obama is not attending Trump’s inauguration?

On Monday, Barack Obama will again step out without her for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony – also to be attended by Joe and Jill Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and George W and Laura Bush. Earlier this month, the tabloid’s sources suggested that Michelle is sitting out the historic event because “She’s never been fake and she’s never been phony. She’s always been very deliberate about where and how she shows up.”