Kumail Nanjiani Addresses Wild Rumor He Had Affair With Michelle Obama

Kumail Nanjiani has addressed the wild rumor that he had an affair with former first lady Michelle Obama. 

 

The 47-year-old comedian who has been married to writer and producer Emily V. Gordon since 2007 - opened up about the speculation on Thursday's episode of the So True With Caleb Hearon podcast. 

 

The Eternals actor admitted to the podcast host that he had been completely unaware of the rumor until someone else had brought it up to his wife

'There was a rumor going around last year that I was having an affair with Michelle Obama,' Kumail Nanjiani said, causing Hearon to exclaim, 'Congratulations!' 

The star continued, 'I know, I was so excited. My friend - our mutual friend - pulled Emily aside and was like, "Hey, I heard that Kumail and Michelle Obama are like doing it."' 

Kumail Nanjiani then shared that his wife hadn't been 'upset' at the time as he explained that 'multiple people brought it up to me.'

The stand-up comedian further clarified, 'I never met Michelle Obama,' and the podcast host chimed in with, 'Okay so no affair, got it.'

Hearon then pointed out that another rumor had been circulating at the same time which was that Jennifer Aniston and Barak Obama were also having an affair. 

'Oh my God. What do we think? Do we think it's real?' Nanjiani jokingly questioned. 

The host replied, 'I don't know. But what I'm saying is from my friend Kumail - you're up with with Jen Aniston in terms of affair rumors.' 

The actor then explained that he felt both Michelle and Barack are out of his and Aniston's leagues. 

'I don't know. I think Michelle's slumming it and to be honest, no shade to Jen, Barack's slumming it too.' 

Nanjiani added, 'I think Michelle Obama is a very high bar to clear. And I love Jennifer Aniston, I'm genuinely a huge fan.' 

Last year in October, Aniston had also shut down the rumors that she was having an affair with Barack Obama.

 

'Of all the calls you get from your publicist where you're just like "Oh, no, what's it gonna be?"' the Friends alum said during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! 

'Or you get an email saying some cheesy tabloid is gonna make up a story - and then it's that…'

The actress then added with a laugh, 'I was not mad at it,' but emphasized that the rumor was 'absolutely untrue.'  

Michelle tied the knot with Barack in 1992 - and the pair have since welcomed two children. 

 

Nanjiani first met his wife back in 2006 when she had heckled him during one of his stand-up comedy routines. 

The following year, he was by her side when she had been put into a medically induced coma for eight days and also diagnosed with Still's disease.

After her recovery, the pair said 'I do' later that same year in July 2007 at Chicago's City Hall.

Five years after the couple relocated to Los Angeles, they both co-wrote the screenplay to the 2017 movie The Big Sick - which is based on their own personal love story. 

The film had also starred Nanjiani as well as Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Bo Burnham and Zenobia Shroff. 

The project was both a critical and box office success at the time when it was released in theaters. 

It garnered a number of accolades - including an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. 

Nanjiani began his entertainment career with stand-up comedy before transitioning to both television and film.

He has made appearances in shows such as Veep, Portlandia, Community, The Boys, Welcome To Chippendales and Poker Face. 

The star is also playing Paladin Xander Harkness in the second season of the post-apocalyptic drama Fallout. 

He stepped into the world of the MCU when he was cast as Kingo in the 2021 superhero film Eternals. 

Nanjiani has made appearances on the big screen in other projects such as Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015), Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), and most recently Ella McCay - which hit theaters on December 12.