Michelle Obama recently complained that during her time in the public eye the media obsessively focused on her outfits instead of her education and career, claiming her appearance was constantly dissected. The complaint came as she has been promoting a new book and doing high-profile media appearances where she herself discusses fashion at length.

Conservative commentators, led by Megyn Kelly, were swift to call out the obvious hypocrisy: after publicly lamenting the attention, Mrs. Obama has launched a coffee-table book and media tour centered on her “look.” Kelly and others point out the contradiction of declaring exhaustion with fame while simultaneously monetizing and amplifying it.

The irony was hard to miss when, in one interview, the host asked about Michelle’s outfit within seconds — exactly the behavior the former first lady criticized. That moment has been widely circulated as proof that the complaints ring hollow when the subject turns the spotlight into a product.

Megyn Kelly didn’t stop at pointing out the contradiction; she blasted Obama’s broader tendency to frame ordinary scrutiny as racial grievance and perpetual victimhood. From a conservative vantage, this pattern is wearisome: elites who profit enormously from public adoration then lecture the public about exploitation when attention doesn’t fit their preferred narrative.

Across social media and conservative outlets the reaction was blunt and unforgiving, labeling the remarks tone-deaf and out of touch with everyday Americans who work for a living and don’t get to monetize their image. It’s a reminder that the ruling class often operates with different rules — special treatment when convenient and moralizing when beneficial.

Patriotic Americans should ask a simple question: do we accept this double standard from our cultural elites? If the answer is no, then calling out this kind of performative complaint is not just fair, it’s necessary — because a free society depends on accountability, not celebrity-safe grievance tours.