Oprah is taking accountability for promoting unsustainable methods of weight loss over the last 25 years in a new three-hour live WeightWatchers special.
“I have been a steadfast participant in this diet culture,” the host, 70, said Thursday. “Through my platforms, through the magazine, through the talk show for 25 years and online.
“I’ve been a major contributor to it. I cannot tell you how many weight-loss shows and makeovers I have done, and they have been a staple since I’ve been working in television,” she continued.
The star went on to admit that she is haunted by the moment she brought out a red Radio Flyer wagon with 67 pounds of fat on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” The fat on the wagon meant to represent how much weight she lost after going on a rigorous liquid-only diet.
“I’ve shared how that famous wagon of fat moment on the ‘Oprah’ show is one of my biggest regrets,” she continued. “It sent a message that starving yourself with a liquid diet — it set a standard for people watching that I nor anybody else could uphold.”
Winfrey was joined by actresses Rebel Wilson, Amber Riley and Busy Philipps as well as WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani and several doctors during the YouTube special.
The group also discussed the popularity of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy on the rise and the change of WeightWatchers from being a diet company to a weight-health company.
ADVERTISEMENT
Weightwatchers now provides medical intervention through the weight loss drugs and explained that there should not be any shame for using them as aides.
Winfrey admitted in December 2023 she lost nearly 40 pounds after using a weight-loss medication.
The star previously called methods like this the “easy way out.”
“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,” she told People at the time.
The “Color Purple” star added, “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
Oprah left the WeightWatchers board of directors shortly after a decade of working with the brand to avoid the potential conflict of interest.
ADVERTISEMENT
She later told Jimmy Kimmel that she wanted to host a special about prescription weight-loss medications but didn’t want her intentions to get skewed.
“I decided that because this special was really important to me and I wanted to be able to talk about whatever I wanted to talk about, and WeightWatchers is now in the business of being a weight health company that also administers drug medications for weight,” she explained.
After resigning, Oprah donated all her shares to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“So nobody can say, ‘Oh, she’s doing that special, she’s making money, promoting.’ No, you cannot say that.”
