After Oprah Winfrey dropped so much weight, she finally had to admit how she did it. However, when people learned the truth about her weight loss, the talk show queen got slammed.
Oprah Winfrey is no stranger to weight-related scrutiny. Her fitness journey has been well documented in the media, on magazine covers, and on episodes of her own eponymous talk show, which aired for 25 seasons.
After undergoing knee surgery in 2021, Winfrey said the operation accelerated her two-year-long weight loss. When forced to “come clean” about her rapid weight loss, Winfrey had to admit she received assistance. For many years, she had advocated for a “holistic” approach to staying fit and healthy.
The watershed moment in Winfrey’s approach occurred during a taped panel discussion with weight-loss experts and clinicians about pharmaceutical help. “I had the biggest aha along with many people in that audience,” she recalled of the discussion. “I realized I’d been blaming myself all these years for being overweight, and I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control.”
The media mogul earlier stated that she believed using medications was the “easy way out.” However, Winfrey later changed her mind. “I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing,” she said. “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.”
The “Color Purple” star did not specify the treatment she used or whether it was the Type II diabetes prescription medication Ozempic, which has grown popular among celebrities. Many social media users reacted negatively to Winfrey’s admission that she was using a prescribed drug.
“She doesn’t have a right to use her money and connections to get a life-saving drug meant for diabetics so she can wear new clothes,” one critic wrote. “There is currently a nationwide shortage of Ozempic that diabetics can’t get their hands on.”
Winfrey owns a stake in Weight Watchers and has stated that she still follows the program. That led some commenters to point that out to her, suggesting she didn’t need any extra help.
“Unfortunately, there are many Americans that need this medicine for medical reasons other than not being able to control their eating and are unable to get it,” an angry critic said. “Isn’t there another way for the owner of Weight Watchers to control her eating?”
One critic felt deceived by Oprah Winfrey and suggested that Winfrey was a blatant hypocrite for saying one thing but later doing another.
“After struggling with her weight for decades it strained credulity to believe she miraculously discovered the secret to losing weight,” she wrote. “OW (Oprah Winfrey) is really the worst of the worst. She flogs a weight loss program that she herself does not use. Her weight loss is attained by a drug. It’s celebrities like her who are causing the shortage for those who need it for their diabetes. The woman is a liar and a fraud. End of.”
Another upset critic summed up her frustration with all celebrities and their alleged dishonesty when it comes to attaining a perfect figure.
“Most celebrities do all sorts of things and lie about it. Oprah got caught and finally had to admit it,” she posted. “We are all aware of her weight struggles and food issues. Y’all Hollywood types just need to be honest and admit y’all are doing more than just counting calories and exercising. The whole industry perpetuates this false ideal that the rest of us have to swallow. Photoshopped botoxed fillered and oxempic’d out.”
According to the billionaire celebrity, the drug is not a miracle cure. “I know everybody thought I was on it, but I worked so damn hard,” Oprah Winfrey explained. “I know that if I’m not also working out and vigilant about all the other things, it doesn’t work for me.”
Winfrey initially skirted around admitting to getting medical assistance weeks before coming clean. “Well, it’s not one thing; it’s everything,” she told Entertainment Tonight about her weight loss. “And I intend to keep it that way,” she declared before adding that she had been “on that treadmill” for hours prior to her movie premiere.
