Stars open up about weight loss drugs like Ozempic
In Dec. 2023, Oprah told People that she uses an unspecified weight loss drug. “I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing. 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. I'm absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself."
The Oscar-winning actress and host of 'The View' shared on her show that she weighed almost 300 pounds (136 kg) but has been able to drop the weight in part thanks to the diabetes drug Mounjaro, which is in the same drug class as Ozempic or the weight-loss drug Wegovy. By speaking about it, she hoped to stop people from "judging" others related to weight or weight loss.
Speaking on the same episode of 'The View,' another co-host spilled the beans. She said she also took Mounjaro, which helped bring her cholesterol down. "I feel better, I think I look better, and that’s what this is about for people," she said.
Speaking to Whoopi Goldberg on her own show in May 2024, Clarkson said she lost a huge amount of weight with the help of a weight loss drug that wasn't Ozempic, though she didn't say which one. "My doctor chased me for like two years [to take it] and I was like, 'No, I'm afraid of it. I already have thyroid problems,'" she said, talking about her journey to get on it. She said it also helped with alarming bloodwork results.
The British comedian and actor said on the River Cafe Table 4 podcast in 2024 that he was an early adopter of Ozempic. He said at first, he thought it was "astonishing" because he didn't want to eat or drink booze. "Then I started feeling sick, and I started getting sicker and sicker and sicker," he explained. "I was literally throwing up four, five times a day and I thought, 'I can't do this.' So that's it."
Many of the 'Real Housewives' housewives are rumored to be on the drug, but Heather Gay was happy to be open about her decision and motivations. "I didn't wanna show up at another party and see all of my friends 20 pounds thinner and just be resentful," Gay, 49, told ABC News. Saying "body positivity was all a big lie," she said despite having been on TV and writing a best-selling book, she only noticed that her castmates started respecting her more after the weight loss. Yikes.
In 2023, she said on 'Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen' that she had tried Ozempic. "I was one of those people that felt so sick and couldn't play with my son. I was so skinny and he's throwing a ball at me and [I couldn't]," she said, adding that although the medicine didn't work for her, she "immediately invested" in the company that makes it and called out other celebs for lying about their weight loss by saying it is natural.
The actor told People magazine about how the booming popularity of the drug has created a shortage for people with diabetes. "I will say this, it's creating a shortage for those of us who need the medicine that we need and not for weight loss issues, but for our health," he said in 2023. Shortages are still being reported.
The billionaire credited fasting and the weight loss drug from Wegovy for getting "ripped" in 2023. When asked by someone if he had the "nasty burps" that "taste like rotten eggs," he replied: "Yeah, next level."
On TODAY in 2023, the comic joked about his use of the drug. "You've been working on your body and on your health," host Hoda Kotb said. Morga cheekily replied: "No, that's Ozempic. That's how this weight got lost." While it seemed like a joke, he later confirmed it was true and said he "ain't letting go" of the injections.
Osbourne told Piers Morgan that she lost 42 pounds (19kg) on Ozempic, which was more than she ever wanted to lose. Describing her experience, she said she felt totally nauseous for a few weeks. "You get very thirsty and you don't want to eat. That's it,” she said.