Oprah Sparks Controversy Speaking About Diet Culture Amid Ozempic Use
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey has found herself embroiled in a WeightWatchers-related controversy yet again.
The TV personality stepped down from her position on the board of the company–which she held for nearly 10 years–mere months after critics came for her over the admission she made about using weight-loss drugs (like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro) to help her maintain her figure.
Following her weight-loss drug confession, Winfrey became subject to some backlash from the public, and fitness expert Jillian Michaels was notably among those who spoke out against her.
Now, fast-forward almost three months, the 70-year-old is hosting a chat with WeightWatchers to discuss diet culture. The Thursday, May 9, virtual event, Making the Shift: A New Way to Think About Weight, intends to explore “the profound impact diet culture has had on our society” and host a conversation around ways to “reframe harmful narratives surrounding our weight and our bodies,” according to a press release shared with Yahoo! Life reporters.
The public appears to be just as outraged about the "harmful" and "disingenuous" conversation as they were when they first found out the secret to her slim figure while sitting on the board of the weight-loss program was utilizing one of the injectable weight-loss medications.
"Ok… so Oprah is on ozempic and telling us to love our bodies the way they are," one frustrated Instagram user replied to a video shared by Jen Hatmaker, an author and podcast host who was invited to participate in Winfrey's special. "That’s rich."
"Skinny women who take medication and get plastic surgery talking about body acceptance to an audience who doesn’t have the same privilege is what is harmful," a second suggested. "Please rethink this. It’s TOTALLY OFF."
"Asking very genuinely and from a heartfelt place - isn’t ozempic and wegovy just a medicalized diet? Talking about body acceptance while using these products (not you but others like Oprah) just feels really disingenuous," someone else shared. "Again, I am not trying to be mean spirited. I battle with my body image daily but Oprah being suddenly skinny and now talking about love your body feels off the mark."
Ironically enough, before Winfrey began using the unspecified weight-loss medication and praising the results, she sang a very different tune.
During a September 2023 panel appearance, the media mogul described drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro as an "easy way out."
However, after her knee surgery in 2021, the former talk show host was determined to lose weight with diet, lifestyle changes and exercise. Two years later, she explained that she was done "shaming" those who opted to get a little help from prescription medications–including herself.
"The fact that there's a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for," she told PEOPLE in December 2023. "I'm absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself."
Next: Food Network's Sandra Lee Sends Intense Warning About Weight Loss Injections Like Ozempic