How Ozempic Changed American Culture: From Slang to Everyday Life

Since late 2022, “Ozempic” has gone from a brand name on a diabetes prescription to a word Americans use to talk about weight, willpower, celebrity bodies and aging. The change shows up in language (“food noise,” “Ozempic face,” “Ozempidemic”), in a wave of celebrity disclosures that moved the topic from gossip to mainstream health talk, and in aesthetic medicine, where 67% of facial plastic surgeons surveyed in December 2025 reported an increase in patients seeking treatment for changes tied to rapid weight loss ^[7][9][1].

Underneath the slang, the drugs themselves are specific medicines with specific approvals. Ozempic’s active ingredient is semaglutide, approved to treat type 2 diabetes; weight loss is a prominent side effect, and it is often prescribed off-label for that reason. The same ingredient is approved to treat obesity under the name Wegovy. Mounjaro is approved for diabetes and Zepbound for obesity, both made by Eli Lilly ^[4]. Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, has told TODAY.com it does not support off-label use of its medications ^[4].

Drug	Active ingredient	Approved use
Ozempic	Semaglutide [4]	Type 2 diabetes [4]
Wegovy	Semaglutide [4]	Obesity [4]
Mounjaro	Tirzepatide [8]	Diabetes [4]
Zepbound	Tirzepatide [8]	Obesity [4]; also used for obstructive sleep apnea [8]

Semaglutide and tirzepatide are different molecules with different approved uses, even though celebrity coverage and slang often lump the drugs together under one name.

Why is everyone on Ozempic?

The perception that “everyone” is on it comes from a documented surge in use and talk around 2022–2023. The blend word “Ozempidemic” — Ozempic plus epidemic — is recorded as slang and derogatory, defined as the widespread and rapid increase in GLP-1 RA drug use around 2022–2023, especially by celebrities and influencers, along with a resurgence of diet culture and fatphobia ^[1].

Coverage at the time of the 2023 Oscars described “rumoured widespread use” of the diabetes drug among Hollywood A-listers ^[2]. TODAY noted that whenever a celebrity appeared looking slimmer, “the Ozempic accusations always follow,” and that before-and-after photos had become hard to escape on social media ^[4]. Shaquille O’Neal disclosed in June 2026 that he takes Zepbound for obstructive sleep apnea, partnering with Eli Lilly — an indication beyond weight itself, showing how the drug family keeps entering new corners of public life ^[8].

When did Ozempic become a household name?

Two public moments bookended the shift. On October 1, 2022, Elon Musk posted the single word “Fasting,” a post that drew 82,978 likes; on October 2, 2022, he followed up with “And Wegovy” ^[3].

Then came the Oscars. Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 12, 2023, and told the room: “Everybody looks so great. When I look around this room, I can’t help but wonder ‘Is Ozempic right for me?’” ^[2]. Viewers noted the quip landed within the first two minutes of the broadcast, and social media reacted with amusement that the joke was being made in front of all of Hollywood ^[2]. By early 2023, plastic surgeons and dermatologists were already warning about “Ozempic face” — premature facial aging attributed to the weight loss ^[2].

Which celebrities have admitted to using GLP-1 drugs?

The roster of disclosures is long enough now to read like a normalizing pattern rather than a scandal cycle. Among those who have spoken openly:

• Serena Williams lost 31 lb with Zepbound after her second child and, as a paid ambassador for the telehealth provider Ro, frames it as “isn’t a shortcut, it’s healthcare” ^[4][8].
• Whoopi Goldberg told her co-hosts on The View in 2024 that she used Mounjaro, saying she weighed almost 300 lb while filming Till in 2022, and added, “Maybe the key is to stop judging everybody” ^[8].
• Charles Barkley said he lost around 60 lb on Mounjaro, going from 352 to 290, with a goal of 270 ^[8].
• Kathy Bates has lost 100 lb over seven years — 80 through lifestyle changes and the final 20 with Ozempic, after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis ^[8].
• Chrissy Metz, skeptical for years, started during perimenopause and is now a Ro brand ambassador ^[8].
• Rebel Wilson used Ozempic to maintain a 77 lb loss and is now chief wellness officer at Noom ^[8].
• Eric Stonestreet takes Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes, a diagnosis he kept secret out of shame; his doctor told him about it ahead of its May 2022 release ^[4].
• Vanessa Williams started Mounjaro during menopause: “It’s a game-changer” ^[4].
• Savannah Chrisley quit her first drug because it suppressed her appetite, switched to tirzepatide, lost 25 lb, and her company Good Girl RX now sells GLP-1 medications ^[4].
• Rosie O’Donnell posted “i cant believe this is me now” on Instagram in May 2025 and said in August 2025 she is now a size 12 ^[4].
• Renee Graziano of Mob Wives said she had lost 52 lb on Mounjaro by May 2025 ^[4].
• Meghan Trainor combined a dietitian, a trainer and lifestyle changes with Mounjaro after her second pregnancy ^[4][8].
• Chrissy Teigen said in September 2025 that she used Ozempic after her 2020 miscarriage at 20 weeks and a gain of about 40 lb ^[4].
• Billie Jean King, 82, describes herself as a binge eater and hoped the medication would quiet food noise ^[8].
• Bunnie XO told People in December 2025 she experienced “a bout of suicidal ideation” while taking a GLP-1, despite no prior depression history ^[4].

What did Oprah Winfrey say about weight-loss drugs?

Oprah Winfrey’s disclosure shows how the topic moved from gossip pages to primetime health television. In a People interview in December 2023, she revealed she takes a weight-loss drug but did not specify which one: “I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing” ^[4]. She said she decided to start medication after concluding that weight management does not depend solely on self-control ^[5].

She then took the conversation to primetime. “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution” aired Monday, March 18, 2024, from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. EDT on ABC, and the next day on Hulu ^[6]. Taped before a live studio audience, it brought together medical experts — Cleveland Clinic’s W. Scott Butsch, Cedars-Sinai’s Amanda Velazquez, ABC News’ Jennifer Ashton and Darien Sutton — with patients, and framed its purpose as releasing “the shame, judgment and stigma surrounding weight” ^[6]. Questions included why obesity is designated a disease; ABC cited figures of $173 billion per year in US medical costs, 100 million Americans and over 1 billion adults worldwide living with the disease ^[6].

Why did Oprah leave the WeightWatchers board?

In February 2024, Winfrey announced she would not stand for reelection to the WeightWatchers board at the May 2024 shareholders meeting, after serving since 2015, when she acquired a 10% stake ^[5]. Her stated reason: she wanted to “be able to talk about whatever I want to talk about” and avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, because WeightWatchers had become a weight-health company that administers weight medications ^[5].

The conflict was concrete: WeightWatchers acquired Sequence, a telehealth service that connects patients to providers who prescribe weight-loss drugs, for $106 million in 2023 ^[5]. Winfrey announced she would donate her WW shares — about 1.1 million shares, a 1.43% stake worth about $2.5 million at the time, from an original 6.4 million shares that cost $43.2 million — to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, with the board saying it supported the donation during the company’s upcoming trading window in March 2024 ^[5].

What is “food noise”?

“Food noise” is the phrase the drugs pushed into everyday American speech: persistent thoughts about food that a person experiences as unwanted and distressing. A formal definition proposed in the journal Nutrition & Diabetes in 2025 describes it as persistent thoughts about food perceived as unwanted and/or dysphoric, possibly causing social, mental or physical harm — distinguished from routine food thoughts by intensity and intrusiveness, resembling rumination ^[7].

The term was popularized by people managing their weight, not coined in a lab; the original source is unclear, and it emerged from patient anecdotes ^[7]. The phrase was first googled in November 2006, queries rose noticeably in fall 2022, and interest peaked in spring 2024 and stayed high — with the discourse emerging primarily from the United States ^[7]. Researchers note the construct became visible mainly through its sudden absence after GLP-1 RA treatment ^[7].

One patient, in an account published in Scientific American and quoted in the Nutrition & Diabetes paper, described the relief: “All of a sudden it was like some part of my brain that was always there just went quiet,” saying in 48 hours she experienced what “decades of intervention could not accomplish” ^[7]. Chrissy Metz described the same effect from the celebrity side: “It’s so nice not to be obsessing about what I’m going to have [to eat] every minute” ^[8].

The science is catching up to the slang. An expert panel convened at the American Society of Nutrition meeting in Chicago on June 28, 2024, and a measurement tool is under development: the RAID-FN Inventory (Ro Allison Indiana Dhurandhar–Food Noise Inventory) ^[7]. WeightWatchers and the STOP Obesity Alliance have published a consumer trend report on food noise ^[7].

What does “Ozempic face” mean?

“Ozempic face” is the nickname for a hollow, saggy or prematurely aged look that can follow rapid weight loss — sunken cheeks, hollow eyes, loose skin ^[10]. Despite the brand in the name, the term applies to rapid weight loss generally: American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) surgeons note it applies to any semaglutide medication and to Mounjaro users ^[10].

ASPS surgeon Michelle Lee describes the mechanics: rapid volume loss plus skin that cannot retract as quickly equals an aged appearance, particularly when the fat pads in the cheeks and temples shrink too quickly ^[10]. AAFPRS president Anthony E. Brissett lists hollowed cheeks, increased skin laxity and more pronounced jowls as facial fat disappears quickly ^[9].

Are plastic surgeons seeing more patients because of GLP-1 weight loss?

Yes, by their own survey data. In the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) December 2025 member survey, 67% of respondents reported an increase in patients seeking treatment for aesthetic changes associated with rapid weight loss — a 45% increase compared with 2024. For the second consecutive year, respondents reported a 50% increase in facial fat grafting procedures ^[9].

The effects go beyond the face. At a SOFCEP session titled “Ozempic and GLP-1 Agonists: The New Aesthetic Challenge,” surgeons noted increases in abdominal skin laxity, breast ptosis and excess skin of the extremities after substantial weight loss ^[9]. One study of 1,002 body-contouring patients found complication rates did not differ significantly by prior weight-loss method — bariatric surgery 67.9%, lifestyle 14.3%, GLP-1 RA therapy 7.8%, combination 10.1% — with higher BMI at surgery and diabetes as independent predictors of complications ^[9].

The drugs also raised anesthesia questions: because GLP-1s delay gastric emptying, there is concern about retained gastric contents and aspiration, and several professional societies now favor individualized assessment over routine discontinuation ^[9]. Clinical data on tissue quality and facelift outcomes after GLP-1 weight loss remain limited ^[9].

Is taking Ozempic cheating?

The “cheating” framing is exactly what celebrity disclosures have pushed back on. Serena Williams told TODAY: “A misconception is that (a GLP-1 is) a shortcut… believe me, I don’t take shortcuts” ^[4], and as a Ro ambassador frames it as “isn’t a shortcut, it’s healthcare” ^[8]. Whoopi Goldberg’s take on the surrounding chatter: “Maybe the key is to stop judging everybody” ^[8]. Oprah’s ABC special was explicitly built around releasing “shame, judgment and stigma” around weight ^[6].

The counterweight is the word “Ozempidemic” itself, which is recorded as slang and derogatory — a judgment term, not a neutral descriptor ^[1].

What happens when someone stops taking a GLP-1?

The celebrity record includes a clear example that these are ongoing treatments. Oprah told People, in an interview published December 2025, that six months after starting she stopped to see if she could “beat the medication” — and over the next 12 months she regained about 20 pounds. “It’s going to be a lifetime thing,” she said, comparing it to staying on blood pressure medication ^[8]. That is her individual experience, not a universal outcome.

Side effects can be serious and personal, and the disclosures reflect that range: Bunnie XO reported suicidal ideation, Savannah Chrisley stopped one drug over appetite suppression, and Chrissy Teigen struggled with the loss of hunger cues ^[4]. The consumer guidance repeated in the celebrity coverage is to talk to a doctor first before trying a weight-loss medication ^[4].

What is still unknown about the cultural shift?

Plenty. The food noise paper’s authors acknowledge open questions on prevalence, physiological basis, cultural and sociodemographic factors, stigma and public-health policy — and they state plainly that personal testimony does not constitute an evidence base ^[7]. In aesthetic medicine, clinical data on tissue quality and surgical outcomes after GLP-1 weight loss remain limited ^[9]. And the survey figures from facial plastic surgeons are member surveys, not established clinical evidence ^[9].

Nothing on this page is medical advice. Decisions about starting, stopping or switching any medication belong with a clinician who knows the individual’s history.

Sources

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