What is going on
Oprah Winfrey Earlier this month, she hosted a new TV special in which she shared her personal experiences with new weight-loss drugs and discussed how the revolutionary new drugs have changed the lives of people struggling with obesity.
Over the course of her career, Winfrey’s honesty about her own weight challenges made her something of an avatar for the country’s broader struggles in nutrition, health and beauty. For a while, tracking her weight became, in her words, a “national sport.” After decades of chronicling the latest fad diets, wellness plans and weight loss innovations on her mega-hit daytime show, it was almost inevitable that she would share her thoughts on the rise of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
It’s hard to overstate how much these new drugs, known as GLP-1 agonists, have changed the conversation around weight in their short time on the market. While there is strong resistance to some predictions that they could end obesity, the drugs have been shown to consistently produce significant – sometimes dramatic – weight loss in ways that diets and exercise plans cannot.
Winfrey acknowledged late last year that she had used a weight loss drug, without specifying which drug, despite saying she considered the injectable drugs “the easy way out” for weight loss. She also served on the WeightWatchers board of directors when the company chose to offer the drugs as a possible addition to its long-standing weight loss programs. She recently stepped down from that position to avoid any “perceived conflict of interest” surrounding her decision to host the special.
During the show, Winfrey spoke about the “shame” she felt for years due to the false belief that her weight problems were caused by her own shortcomings.
“All those years I thought that all the people who never dieted were just using their willpower and were somehow stronger than me,” she said. She added that thanks to these new drugs, “there is now a sense of hope.”
Why there is discussion
Winfrey has been such an important voice in the weight discussion for so long that her endorsement of drugs like Ozempic will undoubtedly change the conversation.
Some commentators said that the special’s core message, that struggling with weight is a matter of personal biology, not a lack of dedication, could really resonate with an entire generation of people who over the years have been stuck in the same failed diet cycles as Winfrey. They believe the deep connection between Winfrey and her audience could also inspire people to try the drugs for the first time after seeing her success.
But others said the special came across more like an infomercial for Big Pharma than a real discussion about the complex issues underlying the rise of GLP-1 agonists. They allege that Winfrey obscured important facts about the drugs’ limitations and potential risks, while completely ignoring the main barriers that keep people from accessing them: high costs and a lack of insurance coverage.
The fiercest critics believe that Winfrey’s embrace of weight-loss drugs only helps reinforce our culture’s widespread prejudices against overweight people. In their eyes, she should use her enormous power to end weight-based stigma and combat misconceptions about the correlation between weight and health, rather than celebrate the fact that she has finally found a way to comply to society’s harmful beauty standards.
Perspectives
Her experiences resonate deeply with so many others
“Oprah admits an uncomfortable truth: diets rarely work. It doesn’t matter how much courage or willpower you have or how hard you are willing to work, the weight will come back; it almost always does. If Oprah’s army of chefs and trainers couldn’t transform her into a size 6 without drugs, then maybe it’s time to question the tired American (diet) dream that hard work = success, and redefine success all over again . – Adrienne Bitar, CNN
Her honesty is, as always, commendable
“As Winfrey herself explained of her regimen last year: ‘It’s not one thing. It’s everything.’ Let’s respect Winfrey for finally finding that ‘all’ and opening up about her weight-loss journey.” — Charles Passy, MarketWatch
She should be fighting to end weight stigma, not celebrating a new way to avoid it
“She doesn’t stop asking if maybe fatphobia is the problem, and not fat people.” – Mara Gordon, NPR
Her special felt like a love letter to Big Pharma
“Winfrey could have recognized the inequalities around who can and cannot afford these medications and their costs to the healthcare system, and asked what that will mean for changing attitudes around weight shame and stigma – the very issues she claims to want to dismantle. But instead, she moved forward without using her platform to vigorously challenge the drugmakers on price, letting her guests of obesity experts (who had numerous industry conflicts) and even the drugmakers themselves have the final say. – Lisa Jarvis, Bloomberg
It’s not her job to defeat anti-fat prejudice all by herself
“I have a strange need for Oprah to be happy, because it feels like our happiness is intertwined. People like us will never give up the desire to be thin. …I didn’t create this system, I’m just trying to live in it. Like Oprah, I will not be ashamed of my desire to be thin.” – Kristine Lloyd, Salon
She deserves a compliment for not pretending that these medications are a miracle cure
“There are no easy answers here. But Winfrey’s wise words – that the availability of this drug feels ‘like redemption, like a gift’ – offer a starting point for an honest conversation about how to deal with this wonderful new opportunity that science has presented us.” –Ruth Marcus, Washington Post
She has every right to find joy in finally achieving her own personal goals
“When I see Oprah standing on stage, high above the audience, wearing the kind of form-fitting monochromatic jumpsuits she now favors, I realize that maybe this isn’t about us. This is about Oprah. You may find inspiration in her final chapter on weight loss. Even if you don’t, she’s clearly found a way to love her body. That is difficult to assess.” – Tressie McMillan Cottom, New York Times
