Former First Lady Michelle Obama made headlines again this week for all of the wrong reasons.
Obama made the remarks alongside actress Sharon Stone during Wednesday’s episode of her “IMO” podcast with Craig Robinson.
The episode, titled “Living Unapologetically with Sharon Stone,” featured a wide-ranging conversation with the 68-year-old actress.
Stone and Obama eventually turned their attention toward differences they perceive between healthcare treatment and research involving men and women.
Stone complained that women historically received inadequate information about menstruation, reproductive health, and other fundamental aspects of their bodies.
“No one told me, like, this is how you have your period,” Stone said while describing her upbringing.
Stone then discussed tampon research and argued women’s healthcare historically received insufficient scientific attention compared with men’s healthcare.
The actress broadened her criticism toward reproductive policy, questioning current abortion restrictions and medical treatment involving pregnancy complications.
Stone then offered a provocative hypothetical about what America would supposedly look like if biological men could become pregnant.
“If men could be pregnant, you could get an abortion from a vending machine,” Stone joked during the conversation.
Obama burst into laughter before adding her own imagined scenario involving men experiencing pregnancy and childbirth.
“There would be the birth-Olympics,” Obama said, predicting men would transform labor into something resembling competitive sports.
“Men would film themselves going into labor and honoring their pain, you know?” the former first lady continued.
Obama suggested male childbirth would quickly become an accomplishment publicly celebrated through awards, competition, and displays of endurance.
“There would be trophies given,” Obama said as Stone and the former first lady continued joking about the hypothetical.
Obama then pretended to congratulate an imaginary man named Bob for enduring childbirth without receiving pain medication.
“Well done, dude!” Obama exclaimed during the bit.
“Bob, you did that without an epidural!” she added, continuing her mock celebration of men experiencing labor.
Stone immediately extended the joke by suggesting family-leave policies would become considerably more generous if men were giving birth.
“Maternity leave would be when you got the bonus,” Stone said.
“There you go!” Obama responded enthusiastically to Stone’s suggestion.
“Right?” Obama continued before adding, “You win, win.”
The conversation then became even more awkward for Robinson, Obama’s older brother and co-host, who was sitting between them.
Robinson attempted to redirect the discussion by pointing away and asking, “Hey, what’s that over there?”
He then asked Stone about how she ended up living in New York, steering the conversation toward another subject.
Stone noticed Robinson’s attempted escape and jokingly narrated what she believed he was thinking about their pregnancy conversation.
“Craig’s like, I’ve had it with this conversation, moving on,” Stone joked.
“Moving on!” Stone added as Obama continued laughing.
Obama then used her brother’s attempted subject change to make another broader joke about men and women.
“This is why we don’t get help, you know?” Obama said while discussing Robinson’s reaction.
“They’re like, ‘Well, I’m bored with this conversation. Let’s talk about sports,’” Obama continued.
Robinson pushed back, noting that he had not actually tried redirecting the discussion toward athletics.
“I didn’t switch to sports,” Robinson responded.
“Not yet, not yet,” Obama fired back at her brother.
“We were just getting started, weren’t we, Sharon?” Obama added before the discussion eventually moved elsewhere.
Her remarks then transitioned toward healthcare research, abortion access, and her hypothetical scenario involving pregnant men.
The episode’s comedic exchange quickly generated coverage because Obama and Stone used men as targets while discussing politically sensitive reproductive issues.
Their remarks were explicitly hypothetical and delivered as jokes rather than factual claims about how men would actually handle childbirth.
The former first lady has increasingly used her podcast to discuss cultural, family, and personal subjects outside traditional political appearances.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
