Charles Barkley says he lost 62 pounds on Mounjaro

Charles Barkley said on "The Pat McAfee Show" on May 26, 2023, that he had lost 62 pounds using Mounjaro, a brand name for the drug tirzepatide ^[1]. The 60-year-old NBA Hall of Famer said he went from 352 pounds to 290 pounds over about six months, combining the weekly injection with diet and exercise ^[1]. He said his goal is to reach 270 pounds and that his main motivation was to live longer ^[1].

Mounjaro works similarly to semaglutide, the drug sold as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss ^[1]. Both drugs act on a hormone called GLP-1 that affects appetite, making people feel fuller ^[1]. Tirzepatide also acts on a second hormone, GIP, related to insulin, which is one way it differs from semaglutide ^[1].

At the time of Barkley's comments, tirzepatide was approved for diabetes but not yet approved by the FDA for weight loss, meaning any use for weight loss was off-label ^[1]. A clinical trial cited in the report found patients using tirzepatide lost 20% of their body weight over 16 months ^[1]. Barkley did not say whether he was being treated for diabetes or was using the drug specifically for weight loss ^[1].

Barkley was candid about his limited understanding of the drug's mechanism. "I have zero idea what the hell this drug does," he said, but added that he knew it was working ^[1]. He also said his doctor prefers Mounjaro over Ozempic, a comment that highlighted growing physician interest in tirzepatide even before it had a dedicated weight-loss brand name ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Barkley's disclosure came about a year before tirzepatide received its own weight-loss brand, Zepbound, meaning at the time patients hearing about his experience would have only known the diabetes brand name, Mounjaro ^[1]. This mattered practically because patients seeking the drug for weight loss in mid-2023 would have been doing so off-label through a diabetes-labeled product, without an FDA-approved weight-loss indication yet in place ^[1].

An obesity expert cited in the report noted that severe obesity is linked to shorter average life expectancy, but also cautioned that weight alone does not determine health — factors like blood pressure and cholesterol matter too ^[1]. This distinction is relevant for anyone weighing celebrity accounts against their own medical picture, since a single number on a scale does not capture full health status ^[1].

The report also underscores that public figures naming tirzepatide specifically, rather than defaulting to "Ozempic" as a catch-all term, helped introduce a second brand name into mainstream conversation about GLP-1 drugs ^[1]. For patients trying to understand their options, knowing that Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Ozempic/Wegovy (semaglutide) are different drugs with different mechanisms — one hormone target versus two — is a basic but important distinction ^[1].

What happens next

The source does not address regulatory developments after May 2023, including whether or when tirzepatide would receive a specific FDA weight-loss approval; that information is not in this account and is not yet known from what is provided here ^[1].