Jamie-Lynn Sigler Issues Bold Message on Ozempic Use
TODAY -- Pictured: Jamie-Lynn Sigler on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 -- (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
Jamie-Lynn Sigler became the latest celebrity to enter the debate about Ozempic use during a recent episode of MeSsy, the podcast she co-hosts with Christina Applegate.
The podcast, which launched in March, brought the actresses together to explore the various “curveballs that life can throw,” including their own battles with multiple sclerosis.
On May 14, The Sopranos star and Applegate released an episode called “Body Talk” that focused on eating disorders and body image. The episode’s official description included a trigger warning to alert listeners to the sensitive nature of their conversation.
Sigler, 43, and Applegate, 52, kicked off their conversation by sharing the struggles they faced with eating disorders as young actresses. Sigler, who played Meadow Soprano on the hit HBO series for the full run of the show, said her eating disorder experience began when she was 16 before The Sopranos was picked up. Though Sigler said the people she worked with wanted her to “be healthy" and even “almost fired” her early on “because of how thin I was,” ongoing weight shaming in the media continued to impact her relationship with food for years.
Later in the episode, Sigler addressed the rise in popularity of Ozempic. She admitted she felt “a little triggered about all the Ozempic stuff,” a feeling she was “annoyed” with herself for having.
Related: Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro—Is There a Difference Between These Medications? Here’s What Experts Say
“It’s upsetting me,” Sigler said. “I wish I didn’t care.”
The actress revealed that she had people in her life who have had positive experiences with the drug, which is commonly used for weight loss. “I actually know a handful of people that it has made an incredible difference in their lives,” Sigler told the Dead to Me actress. “I have seen them struggle with their weight for a very, very, very long time and seen it give them a lot. And I am so happy for them.”
But those individuals aren’t the only ones Sigler knows who have used Ozempic. “I also have seen friends of mine who were beautiful and healthy and perfect abusing it,” she said. “And it’s upsetting me.”
Sigler then tried to explain her complicated feelings about Ozempic use among others as she reflected on the body positivity movement of recent years. “It felt like we were on this road to really, like, solidifying the body positivity and the every shape and size and color,” she said. But now, “everyone’s looking the same.”
Ozempic is a prescription medication that is used to treat diabetes. The drug can also be used for weight loss, and many people struggling with their weight—including some well-known celebrities—have begun using Ozempic and other similar medications in recent years as a weight-loss tool.
