Michelle Obama Used To Get Involved In 'Elaborate' White House Pranks

For Michelle Obama, living in the White House was a huge transition, and she missed her pre-fame life. However, once she noticed that her children were adjusting well, Michelle felt a lot more comfortable. As she relaxed into her role as first lady, Michelle's staff wanted to push things even further by using pranks as a rite of passage.

Even though Michelle is known for her wit, she was reluctant to participate in these schemes. However, she eventually agreed, since her staff claimed she helped make the joke more credible. During an appearance on Rob Lowe's "Literally!" podcast, Michelle explained one complicated prank where an intern was duped into believing she'd left the first lady's engagement ring at a hotel. The young staffer was intentionally cut off from other staff, "to let her stew in the fact that she might have lost my ring, which was so mean!" Michelle remarked to Lowe. Fortunately, Michelle revealed the prank as soon as the intern approached her to confess to the supposedly missing jewelry.

Pranks weren't just limited to newbie staff, and even Barack Obama was the victim of White House revelry. After Barack divulged his discomfort with snowmen in December 2016, "some helpful staff... moved all the snowmen so each one was peeking through a different window into the Oval," White House photographer Pete Souza revealed on Instagram. While Barack reportedly appreciated the humor, he did tell Michelle she'd be crossing a line if a snowman got near his bed.

With pranks, there's often a fine line between having fun and going too far. "After a while I just had to stop the pranks," Michelle Obama divulged on the "Literally!" podcast. "They just got more elaborate, and people were crying."

However, Michelle found it impossible to abstain from mischief forever. She and Jimmy Fallon have teamed up on a number of occasions to play practical jokes. Fortunately, these schemes were more lighthearted. In one instance in April 2023, Michelle joined Fallon at a Manhattan bookstore. She and the comedian hid behind a partition as she pretended her actual voice was the pre-recorded audio of her book, "The Light We Carry." Michelle had a tough time concealing her laughter as she waited to pop out of her hiding spot. She also cracked up when people were startled to see her in person.

Enthusiasm for pranks appears to run in Michelle's family, and these jests were a regular feature when she was a child growing up in Chicago. Occasionally, things escalated and got out of hand. In one instance, her mom, Marian Robinson, lay motionless on the bathroom floor, and Michelle's brother, Craig Robinson, was terrified that something serious had happened to her. Of course, it was all in good fun, but Michelle learned from experience that pranks can go too far.