Oprah Winfrey recently reflected on past mistakes that included promoting unsustainable weight loss methods during her time on her popular eponymous talk show. During a three-hour live WeightWatchers special for WeightWatchers on Thursday, May 9, Oprah acknowledged her complicity in promoting unsafe “diet culture” through her talk show and magazines.
The apology comes months after Oprah Winfrey revealed that she had lost 40 pounds using a weight-loss medication Ozempic despite previously calling it an “easy way out.”
In 2012, during an episode of “Oprah Daily’s The Life You Want: The State of Weight,” the talk show host shaded the celebrity weight loss trend Ozempic, saying, “If I take the drug, that’s the easy way out.”
In 2023, the renowned talk show host, who has been vocal about struggling with her weight, confessed she was taking medication to lose weight after months of speculation on her diminished frame, according to PEOPLE. At the time, the admission sparked backlash online, with people highlighting the hypocrisy of the Talk Show Host who bought a 10 per cent stake in Weight Watchers in 2015.
Now, Oprah is taking accountability for promoting extreme diet methods through her mediums over the years. Per Page Six, during the live WeightWatchers special for WeightWatchers on Thursday, the Billionaire said, “I have been a steadfast participant in this diet culture. Through my platforms, through the magazine, through the talk show for 25 years and online. I’ve been a major contributor to it.”
Oprah then recalled a particular instance on her talk show where she asked people to starve themselves, saying it still haunts her to this day. Recounting the regrettable scene, Oprah explained she brought out a red Radio Flyer wagon stacked with 67 pounds of fat on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” representing how much weight she had lost after going on an intense, liquid-only fast.
She continued “I’ve shared how that famous wagon of fat moment on the ‘Oprah’ show is one of my biggest regrets. It sent a message that starving yourself with a liquid diet set a standard for people watching that neither I nor anybody else could uphold.”
Oprah, who was joined on stage by actresses Rebel Wilson, Amber Riley and Busy Philipps, applauded WeightWatcher’s shift from promoting dieting to becoming a weight-health company. She said there’s no shame in managing weight with medical intervention through drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
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