Kumail Nanjiani has laughed off the mad rumour he was having affair with Michelle Obama.
The comedian and Marvel star, known for his portrayal of Kingo in Eternals, admitted that a load of people - not least his wife - had heard the bizarre allegation swirling around Hollywood.
Nanjiani and film writer and producer Emily V. Gordon first connected after she heckled him at a comedy show in 2006.
After getting married a year later, the Pakistani-American was initially concerned if his family would accept her amid plans for an arranged marriage. Their story inspired their Oscar-nominated film The Big Sick.
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“I couldn’t imagine a universe where I ended up accepting an arranged marriage, but I also couldn’t imagine telling my parents that,” Nanjiani told the New Yorker in 2017. “So I just deflected and delayed.”
“My life is really two things. It’s my life with Emily — and that really is my reason for being on this earth,” he said in a recent podcast episode of So True with Caleb Hearon.
One hurdle they had to jump is the crazy claim that Nanjiani was having an affair with the wife of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, even though he had 'never met' her.
“I was so excited! My friend, our mutual friend pulled Emily aside and was like, ‘Hey, so I heard that Kumail and Michelle Obama are like doing it’.
“And she was like, she wasn't even upset, but multiple people brought it up to me.”
The host then brought up another rumour regarding the former US president and Friends star Jennifer Aniston.
“There's been this persistent rumour that Barack is stepping out with Jen Aniston,” he added.
“But what I’m saying is, my friend Kumail, you’re up there with Jen Aniston in terms of affair rumours.”
Nanjiani joked that both Obamas might possibly be 'slumming it', if there was any truth in the affair rumours.
"You don't want to see one of the leaders of the free world with an actor," the host joked.
Early on in the relationship, Emily was put in a medically induced coma for eight days and was diagnosed with Still’s disease, a rare form of inflammatory arthritis.
“I was the first person at the hospital and they made me sign the paperwork,” Nanjiani told People. “I realised it was much more serious when the doctor said we’re going put her in a coma. That was my first clue that this wasn’t just a flu.”
Just months after Emily recovered, the pair got married and moved to Los Angeles.
Anish Vij