Oprah Winfrey tells People she uses a weight-loss medication

Oprah Winfrey told People in December 2023 that she uses a prescription weight-loss medication, without saying which one ^[1]. The disclosure came from a person whose public struggles with weight had been a decades-long fixture of American media, and it landed while GLP-1 drugs were moving from pharmacy counters into everyday conversation.

"I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing," Winfrey said ^[1]. She framed the decision as a break from years of self-blame: "I realized I'd been blaming myself all these years for being overweight, and I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control" ^[1].

She also spoke directly to the stigma attached to using medication for weight. "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 said. "I'm absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself" ^[1]. Winfrey had previously described weight-loss drugs as an "easy way out" before changing her view ^[1].

What she did and did not say

Winfrey did not name the drug she takes, and that detail has not been disclosed ^[1][2]. She also did not describe a dose, a starting date, or how long she plans to continue.

That matters because the drugs commonly discussed under the "Ozempic" shorthand are not interchangeable. Ozempic, the semaglutide injection made by Novo Nordisk, is approved to treat type 2 diabetes, with weight loss as a prominent side effect, and is often prescribed off-label for weight ^[1]. Novo Nordisk has said it does not support off-label use of its medications ^[1]. The same molecule, semaglutide, is approved for obesity under the name Wegovy ^[1]. Eli Lilly's tirzepatide is sold as Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for obesity ^[1].

The business fallout

Winfrey's role in the weight-loss industry gave the interview extra weight. She joined the WeightWatchers board in 2015 and bought a 10% stake, giving the company relevance as dieters shifted away from counting points ^[2].

In late February 2024, she notified the company she would not stand for re-election at its annual shareholder meeting in May, ending a nearly decade-long run as a director ^[2]. A WeightWatchers regulatory filing said her "decision was not the result of any disagreement" or "any matter relating to the company's operations, policies or practices" ^[2]. Her exit came a year earlier than expected; in 2019 she had signed an extension through 2025 ^[2]. She said she was donating all of her stock to the National Museum of African American History and Culture ^[2].

WeightWatchers shares fell 25% in premarket trading that Thursday, and would be down 85% over the prior six months if the losses held ^[2]. The company had already been responding to GLP-1 competition, launching a membership plan connecting members to doctors who can prescribe the drugs and buying the telehealth firm Sequence in a deal worth more than $100 million ^[2].

Why it matters for patients

The practical effect of the interview was on language, not prescribing. Winfrey described obesity as a condition with a biological "predisposition" rather than a discipline problem ^[1], and used the word "tool" rather than cure ^[1]. For patients who had heard for years that they simply needed to try harder, that framing arrived from an unusually loud source.

Her account is one person's experience, not clinical evidence, and she did not share details that would let anyone compare her situation to their own ^[1]. Other public figures have since described sharply different experiences with the same class of drugs, from Serena Williams saying her blood sugar improved and her joints felt lighter ^[1] to podcast host Bunnie XO, who told People in December 2025 that she had "a bout of suicidal ideation" while taking a GLP-1 ^[1]. Celebrity accounts vary widely, and they do not substitute for a conversation with a clinician about risks, benefits and cost.