Oprah Winfrey finally admits taking weight-loss medication after months of denials.
The media mogul now admits she uses prescription weight-loss medication as a “maintenance tool” in addition to diet and exercise.
Oprah was praised when she revealed her slender figure in a shimmering purple gown on Instagram.
She captioned the photo: “It’s a purple kind of night. Off to the @academymuseum gala with my @thecolorpurple family.”
Oprah, who turns 70 next month, denied using Ozempic or any weight-loss medication to achieve her amazing results.
She attributed her weight loss to a healthy diet and “hiking” after having knee surgery.
READ ALSO: Oprah Denies Taking Ozempic to Lose Weight
“If I take the drug, that’s the easy way out,” she said during a State of Weight panel discussion in September.
“Shouldn’t we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice,” Oprah said during the panel. “Even when I first started hearing about the weight loss drugs, at the same time I was going through knee surgery, and I felt, ‘I’ve got to do this on my own.’ Because if I take the drug, that’s the easy way out.'”
In a thread titled “Oprah is lying to us,” Reddit.com users accused Oprah of “shaming” women who use Ozempic and Wegovy to lose weight.
One Reddit user said Oprah “dodged the Ozempic question like Neo dodging bullets in The Matrix.”
Another user wrote, “Oprah has never been the beacon of morality, authenticity, and sainthood we like to pretend she is.”
Now Oprah admits she is taking weight loss medications following the backlash.
“I had an awareness of [weight-loss] medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way,” she said.
Oprah said she “released my own shame about it” and consulted her doctor, who went on to prescribe a weight-loss medication. “I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing,” she said. Oprah opted not to name the specific drug she takes.
“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.”
But skeptics say Oprah only admitted to using drugs because WeightWatchers – which Oprah is in partnership with – has begun offering Ozempic and other weight loss prescriptions to members.
“We got it wrong,” said WeightWatchers’ new CEO Sima Sistani in an interview with CNN.
Sistani said the company is embracing the idea that obesity is a chronic condition that some people can’t manage through willpower alone.
