“I have to say that I took on the shame that the world gave to me,” Winfrey said in her new special, ‘Shame, Blame, and the Weight Loss Revolution.’ “For 25 years, making fun of my weight was national sport.”
Oprah Winfrey‘s weight loss journey takes center stage in her new special.
Airing Monday night, An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame, and the Weight Loss Revolution saw Winfrey recount how she was shamed and “ridiculed” for decades over her fluctuating weight, and why she decided to take control of the narrative.
“I have to say that I took on the shame that the world gave to me,” Winfrey shared, speaking in front of a live studio audience. “For 25 years, making fun of my weight was national sport.”
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Oprah Winfrey Says It Was a ‘Public Sport’ to Make Fun of Her Weight Over the Years: ‘I Felt Hurt’
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One particularly painful day in 1990 cemented itself in the talk show host’s memory — when she saw herself on the cover of TV Guide for the magazine’s “Best and Worst Dressed” list.
“I remember thinking at first, ‘Oh, look! There I am on the cover.’ And then, I read the headline that Mr. Blackwell — the tastemaker of the time — called me ‘Bumpy, lumpy, and downright dumpy,'” Winfrey recounted. “I was ridiculed on every late-night talk show for 25 years and tabloid covers for 25 years.”
Winfrey also proceeded to read some of the mean and hurtful headlines that have been published about her over the last two decades, which mocked her weight and made conjectures about her health.
The nonstop conversation over her weight led Winfrey to obsess over her appearance and go to almost any length to shed the pounds.
“In an effort to combat all the shame, I starved myself for nearly five months, and then, wheeled out that wagon of fat that the internet will never let me forget,” Winfrey shared, pointing to a particularly infamous episode of her talk show. “And after losing 67 pounds on a liquid diet, the next day– y’all, the very next day, I started to gain it back.”
“We had to break it down,” Winfrey told Entertainment Tonight about having medical experts weigh in on the conversation regarding the medications. “They’ve had these medications for the past 20 years. I didn’t know that. They’ve been having this medication for 20 years and we’re just now hearing about it.”
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The special, which featured interviews with several medical experts, as well as people who have struggled with their weight for years, was made in part to reduce the stigma over using weight loss medications, something Winfrey herself has admitted to as of late.
The special also comes on the heels of Winfrey making the decision to step down after a decade serving on the Weight Watchers board of directors after she disclosed her recent use of weight-loss medication.
“I’m really excited about it,” Winfrey said of the availability of medicine designed to treat obesity and promote increased weight loss. “Because I’ve suffered for so long and struggled so much and did all the things.”
An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution aired March 18 on ABC and will be available the next day on Hulu.
