Marie Claire UK Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Women in Sport 2026
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Spring Summer 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    • Digital Issues
    • Women Who Win
    1. Culture
    2. Celebrity News

    Celebrities react to Obama's emotional farewell speech on social media

    And we just can’t cope.

    Jenny Proudfoot's avatar
    By Jenny Proudfoot
    Published 11 January 2017 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    (Image credit: ddp USA/REX/Shutterstock)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    And we just can’t cope.

    With Obama’s presidency over and Donald Trump now sworn into office, it's safe to say the start of 2017 has been emotional. Especially so when Obama delivered his farewell address on January 11th.

    ‘Every day I learned from you,’ Obama informed the audience. ‘You made me a better President and you made me a better man.’ He went on to outline his achievements in office and the importance of democracy.

    The most moving part of the speech, however, was his tribute to his incredible wife and first lady, Michelle, who sat on the front row and was given a standing ovation by the crowd.

    ‘Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, girl of the South Side, for the past 25 years, you’ve been not only my wife and mother of my children, you have been my best friend’ he told her. ‘You took on a role you didn’t ask for and you made it your own with grace and grit and style and good humour. You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody.’

    You may like
    • Andy Burnham and Marie-France van Heel entering 10 Downing Street “Are We Just Jealous?” Victoria Moss Unpacks the Sexist, Ageist Commentary Around Marie-France van Heel’s Victoria Beckham Dress
    • Football and Domestic Abuse: Women’s Aid: “He’s Coming Home” After England's World Cup Defeat, I Couldn't Stop Thinking About This Domestic Abuse Statistic
    • Madonna's Confessions II: Madonna performs at TSX Stage in Times Square on June 4, 2026 in New York City. Madonna's Confessions II Deserves to Be the Album of the Summer, But the Response Proves We Still Punish Women for Ageing

    He then went on to pay tribute to his daughters, Malia and Sasha, telling them: ‘Of all that I’ve done in my life I’m most proud to be your dad’, before bringing his speech to an emotional close. Like we weren’t crying enough already!

    Barack Obama

    (Image credit: ddp USA/REX/Shutterstock)

    ‘My fellow Americans, it has been the honour of my life to serve you, I won’t stop; in fact, I will be right there with you, as a citizen, for all my days that remain’ Obama announced. ‘For now, whether you’re young or young at heart, I do have one final ask of you as your President – the same thing I asked when you took a chance on me eight years ago.’

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    He continued: ‘I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change – but in yours. I am asking you to hold fast to that faith written into our founding documents; that idea whispered by slaves and abolitionists; that spirit sung by immigrants and homesteaders and those who marched for justice; that creed reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the surface of the moon; a creed at the core of every American whose story is not yet written: Yes We Can. Yes We Did. Yes We Can.’

    During Obama’s powerful address and in the hours, days and weeks that followed, many celebrities took to social media to share their pride of America’s 44th President and to honour his legacy.

    Some, like US talk show host, Andy Cohen, took the moment to share his favourite memory with the President, playing Plead the Fifth with him at a charity dinner hosted by SJP. Have dinner party guest lists (and decor) ever been better? We've got a serious case of FOMO.

    What to read next
    • Meghan Markle in 'With Love, Meghan' Meghan Markle’s Sweet Glimpse Into Sussex Family Life Is Going Viral
    • Lizzo at Fortune's most Powerful Women Summit in 2024 Lizzo Has Shut Down Accusations That She ‘Shaded’ Taylor Swift
    • Nikki Lilly by Rebecca Spencer “I Had To Grieve My Old Appearance And What My Life Had Once Been”

    A photo posted by on

    Others however, took to Twitter to say a few words.

    How the A-list reacted to Obama’s farewell speech on social media

    Ellen DeGeneres

    https://www.facebook.com/ellentv/posts/10155167144122240%20

    Katy Perry

    Kerry Washington

    Elizabeth Banks

    Zendaya

    Sharon Stone

    Amanda Seyfried

    Michelle Williams

    Gabrielle Union

    Ne-Yo

    Cher

    Whoopi Goldberg

    Shonda Rhimes

    Niall Horan

    Taylor Schilling

    Michelle Obama

    https://twitter.com/FLOTUS

    Jenny Proudfoot
    Jenny Proudfoot
    Social Links Navigation
    Contributing Features Editor

    Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. After working at Marie Claire UK for seven years - rising from intern to Features Editor - she is now a freelance contributor to the News and Features section.

    In 2021, Jenny was named as a winner on the PPA's '30 under 30' list, and was also listed as a rising star in journalism.

    Read more
    Andy Burnham and Marie-France van Heel entering 10 Downing Street
    Fashion “Are We Just Jealous?” Victoria Moss Unpacks the Sexist, Ageist Commentary Around Marie-France van Heel’s Victoria Beckham Dress
    Football and Domestic Abuse: Women’s Aid: “He’s Coming Home”
    Life After England's World Cup Defeat, I Couldn't Stop Thinking About This Domestic Abuse Statistic
     
     
    Madonna's Confessions II: Madonna performs at TSX Stage in Times Square on June 4, 2026 in New York City.
    Culture Madonna's Confessions II Deserves to Be the Album of the Summer, But the Response Proves We Still Punish Women for Ageing
    Meghan Markle in 'With Love, Meghan'
    Celebrity News Meghan Markle’s Sweet Glimpse Into Sussex Family Life Is Going Viral
     
     
    Latest in Celebrity News
    Olivia Rodrigo performing on stage in a babydoll dress that sparked online debate, later prompting the singer to speak out about the sexualisation of girlhood and double standards facing young women.
    Celebrity News “We Really Normalise Pedophilia in Our Culture”: What Olivia Rodrigo's Babydoll Dress Backlash Reveals About Girlhood
    Meghan Markle in 'With Love, Meghan'
    Celebrity News Meghan Markle’s Sweet Glimpse Into Sussex Family Life Is Going Viral
     
     
    Anne Hathaway attends the premiere of The Devil Wears Prada 2
    Celebrity News Anne Hathaway Has Spoken Out About Her 10-Year Health Battle
    The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the Isles of Mull and Iona
    Royal News Royal Experts Predict a Major Milestone From Princess Kate This Autumn
     
     
    Latest in Features
    The long hair trend and the post-bob era
    Hair I’ve Spent Two Years Growing My Bob—Turns Out, There's a Reason Long Hair Is Trending
    @nlmarilyn in transitional autumn outfits
    Fashion Goodbye Summer Dresses, I'm in Autumn Outfit Planning Mode—These 5 Are Fresh
     
     
    Arsenal footballer and Lioness Chloe Kelly
    Health and Fitness Women in Sport 2026: Featuring Chloe Kelly, Elite Beauty Products, Grand Prix 2.0 and So Much More
    Mischa Anouk Smith on an astrology travel trip to Türkiye, where she got engaged less than 24 hours after a birth chart reading.
    Travel I Let Astrology Plan My Holiday—Less Than 24 Hours Later, I Was Engaged
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.