Kimmel opens Oscars with Ozempic joke as the drug dominates Hollywood talk
The host's question about Ozempic, asked within two minutes of the March 12 Oscars telecast, marked how far the diabetes drug had traveled into everyday entertainment talk.
Jimmy Kimmel used his opening monologue at the 95th Academy Awards on March 12, 2023, to ask the room a question about Ozempic. "Everybody looks so great," he said. "When I look around this room, I can't help but wonder 'Is Ozempic right for me?'" [1][2]
The gag landed inside the first two minutes of the ceremony, and viewers treated the timing as its own joke. "BINGO CARD! Took less than two minutes for Jimmy Kimmel to make an Ozempic quip!" one wrote [1]. Another post read, "Not Jimmy Kimmel making fun of the Ozempic craze in Hollywood" [1]. A third called the choice "so incredibly perfect" [1].
The monologue also touched on Steven Spielberg and Nicole Kidman's AMC ads, according to The Independent's account [1]. But it was the Ozempic line that spread.
Ozempic is the brand name for semaglutide, one of a group of medicines called incretins [2]. In June 2021, the FDA cleared semaglutide under the brand name Wegovy to treat chronic obesity; it is given as a weekly injection [2]. USA TODAY described interest in the drug as having "skyrocketed" since that approval [2].
Reported use among celebrities has been mostly unconfirmed. Elon Musk and Chelsea Handler are among the few prominent figures who have publicly acknowledged using the drug for weight loss, and Handler said she stopped once she learned it was intended for people with diabetes [2]. Most celebrities who use it are probably not saying so, experts told USA TODAY [2].
USA TODAY's report, published March 13, framed the joke as a sign that an injectable diabetes medicine had become both punchline and status symbol, "reigniting the idea that 'thin is in'" [2]. Ella Halikas, a Sports Illustrated model, said that if this wave had hit when she was in high school, "I would be begging my mom to take me to get the shots." She called the trend "really, really damaging and making us all spiral back into skinny culture" [2].
Meghan Gillen, an associate professor of psychology at Penn State Abington who studies body image, said an "ideal" body type can produce "feelings of shame and lack of self-worth, anxiety and depression" [2]. She pointed to earlier examples of public fascination with celebrity weight change, including Kim Kardashian's account of losing 16 pounds for the Met Gala to fit a Marilyn Monroe dress, and a New York Post headline reading "Bye-bye booty: Heroin chic is back" [2]. Gillen also said research suggests that explaining how a celebrity lost weight does not ease comparison; a study found that disclaimers on retouched photos did not stop viewers from measuring themselves against the images [2].
Asked whether the public is owed an explanation, Gillen said calling out individuals "may cross the line into their own personal business," given how hard it is to live under constant scrutiny [2].
Two other threads ran through the coverage. USA TODAY reported that rising use of Ozempic had "created a shortage for those who are diabetic and rely on Ozempic for their health" [2]. Separately, plastic surgeons and dermatologists have warned of an increase in "Ozempic face," described as premature facial aging that can result from weight loss [1].
Why it matters for patients
A Hollywood joke does not change what a drug does, but it does shape the conversation a patient encounters. By March 2023, Ozempic had become shorthand in entertainment and on social media for weight loss, often before anyone had talked with a clinician about semaglutide [1][2].
For people who take Ozempic for type 2 diabetes, the practical issue raised is supply. Coverage linked heavier demand for weight loss to shortages for patients who depend on the medicine for their health [2].
The body-image discussion is about how these drugs are talked about, not only whether they work. Gillen's comments describe comparison, shame and anxiety as possible effects of watching celebrities change shape, and she cited evidence that disclosure alone does not offset those feelings [2]. One visible effect doctors flagged in this period was facial aging after weight loss, sometimes called "Ozempic face" [1].
What is not established: neither report gives figures on how many people use semaglutide for weight loss rather than diabetes, and neither identifies celebrities beyond those who spoke publicly. Broad use in Hollywood is described as reported and rumored, not confirmed [1][2].
Sources
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