admin
Michelle Obama’s new coffee-table book The Look hits shelves this week, a glossy, photo-heavy celebration of the former first lady’s wardrobe and hairstyling choices that she says chronicles “a journey through my style evolution.” For a public figure with the reach and resources of Michelle Obama — and a release backed by Penguin Random House and a companion podcast series — the project is unmistakably a high-dollar branding play disguised as cultural reflection.
Megyn Kelly and her guests didn’t mince words about the spectacle, calling out what they see as a familiar pattern of grievance turned to product. Kelly noted that Obama has recently complained about the intrusiveness of fame even as she promotes a new podcast, book, and high-profile appearances — a contradiction that conservatives rightly point to as emblematic of elite hypocrisy.
What Obama frames as “reclaiming the narrative” and celebrating representation read to critics as a parade of progressive buzzwords — diversity, inclusion, personhood — layered over a $50 hardcover full of curated images. The promotional unboxing and captions leaned heavily into identity language, which is exactly why many Americans smell the same market-savvy playbook: turn a personal brand into a moral cause, then monetize it.
Kelly’s point that this is part of a wider industry of grievance is not a fringe take; it’s an observation about how a constellation of celebrities and former officials now monetize victim narratives while enjoying every comfort and privilege. Conservatives aren’t asking to cancel anyone’s success — we’re asking for basic honesty. If you love the spotlight and the multi-million-dollar deals that follow, don’t posture as the persecuted.
Americans who work hard and pay taxes are understandably tired of being lectured by cultural elites who profit from telling us we’re the problem. We want leaders who respect common-sense values, not another self-commissioned lesson in how to package personal vanity as social conscience. The marketplace and the ballot box are two places where the public can register that fatigue loud and clear.
At the end of the day, Michelle Obama will sell books and headline venues because celebrity sells — but that doesn’t mean her lectures should go unchallenged. Media figures like Megyn Kelly are doing the job the mainstream press won’t: calling out contradictions, pushing back on sanctimony, and reminding hardworking Americans that privilege and grievance don’t cancel each other out.
