Oprah Winfrey discloses weight-loss medication and steps down from WeightWatchers board

Oprah Winfrey said in December 2023 that she takes a prescription drug for weight loss, without naming the product. She described it to People as something she turns to "as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing" ^[1].

About two months later, she told WeightWatchers she would not stand for re-election as a director at the company's annual shareholder meeting that May ^[2]. A WeightWatchers regulatory statement said her "decision was not the result of any disagreement" with the company or "any matter relating to the company's operations, policies or practices" ^[2].

Winfrey had been a director since 2015, when she bought a 10% stake in the business ^[2]. In 2019 she signed an extension that ran through 2025, so her departure came roughly a year earlier than expected ^[2]. She is donating her entire holding to the National Museum of African American History and Culture ^[2].

WeightWatchers shares (WW) dropped 25% in premarket trading on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, and were down 85% over the prior six months if those losses held ^[2]. The company had already begun reshaping itself around the new class of drugs: it launched a membership plan that connects users of GLP-1 medications with doctors who can prescribe them, plus daily nutrition plans and insurance coordination, and spent more than $100 million to buy Sequence, a telehealth business that offers virtual prescriptions for weight-loss drugs where appropriate ^[2].

Winfrey told People she once saw weight-loss drugs as an "easy way out" and changed her view ^[1]. "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," she said ^[1]. She added that having a medically approved prescription for weight management in her lifetime feels "like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for. I'm absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself" ^[1].

The drugs she did not identify come in several forms with different approvals. Ozempic, whose active ingredient is semaglutide, is cleared for Type 2 diabetes and has weight loss as a prominent side effect, so it is often prescribed off-label for that purpose; Novo Nordisk, its maker, has said it does not support off-label use of its medications ^[1]. The same molecule is approved for obesity under the name Wegovy ^[1]. Mounjaro is approved for diabetes and Zepbound for obesity, and both are tirzepatide, made by Eli Lilly ^[1].

Other public figures have described their own use. Kelly Clarkson said on her talk show, "Everyone thinks it's Ozempic — it's not. It's something else," and that she started after her blood work worsened, calling the results "really good" ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Winfrey did not say which medication she takes, at what dose, for how long, or whether she has a diagnosis such as obesity or Type 2 diabetes, and none of that has been reported ^[1][2]. Her account therefore cannot be used to judge how any specific product performs or who it suits.

What she described is a change in how she frames her own weight — from decades of self-blame to treating it as something a prescription can address ^[1]. Patients bring that kind of framing into regular appointments, and it can shape whether someone raises the topic with a clinician at all.

Where a prescription comes from now varies. The same medication can reach a patient through a diet program that added prescribing and nutrition support, through a telehealth company, or through an ordinary prescriber, each with its own costs and follow-up ^[2]. Pricing for the WeightWatchers programs is not included in these reports, and neither source describes insurance coverage for the drugs themselves.

What happens next

Winfrey's term was due to end at the shareholder meeting in May 2024 ^[2]. WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani said on an investor call that Winfrey "remains a strong strategic voice and collaborator," and Winfrey said she looks forward to continuing to advise the company on recognizing obesity as a chronic condition, reducing stigma and advocating for health equity ^[2]. Whether she has since named the drug she takes has not been reported.