Kathy Bates pushes back on "she just did it with Ozempic"
Kathy Bates says most of her roughly 100-pound weight loss happened before she started Ozempic, pushing back on the idea that the drug alone explains her transformation.
Actor Kathy Bates said in October 2024 that she has lost about 100 pounds over seven years, but only the final 15 to 20 pounds came after she started taking Ozempic [1]. She pushed back against the common assumption that the drug did all the work, saying roughly 80 pounds of her loss came from changes to her diet and lifestyle before she ever started the medication [1].
Bates began taking Ozempic to treat her type 2 diabetes, not primarily to lose weight [1]. Ozempic is approved by the FDA for managing type 2 diabetes, and its active ingredient, semaglutide, is separately approved for weight loss under the brand name Wegovy [1]. Many people are prescribed Ozempic off-label for weight loss, though Novo Nordisk, the drug's maker, has said it does not support that off-label use [1].
Bates' comments echo a pattern among other public figures who have talked about GLP-1 medications. Tennis player Serena Williams told TODAY.com that a "misconception" about these drugs is that they are a shortcut, even though she had trained for hours and changed her diet for years before turning to a GLP-1 after the birth of her second child [1]. Singer Meghan Trainor said she worked with a dietitian and a trainer and made "huge lifestyle changes" alongside taking Mounjaro [1]. Oprah Winfrey has described her weight-loss medication as "a tool" she uses "as I feel I need it" to avoid regaining weight, rather than a stand-alone solution [1].
Why it matters for patients
Bates' account is a reminder that GLP-1 drugs are approved and typically prescribed alongside changes to diet and activity, not as a replacement for them [1]. For someone considering or already taking one of these medications, the assumption that a drug "did it all" can obscure the years of other effort that sometimes come before or alongside treatment, as Bates and Williams both described [1].
It also points to a broader tension in public conversation about these drugs: quick judgments about why someone's body has changed can ignore medical reasons for starting a medication in the first place. Bates started Ozempic for her type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition the drug is specifically approved to treat, not for cosmetic weight loss [1]. Confusing the two can add to stigma that other celebrities, including Kelly Clarkson and Winfrey, have said they wanted to push back against in their own comments about weight-loss drugs [1].
The sources reviewed here do not include details on Bates' current health status, whether she remains on Ozempic, or any side effects she may have experienced. Those specifics are not yet known from available reporting.
What happens next
No further updates on Bates' treatment or health status appear in available sources. The broader public conversation about celebrities and GLP-1 medications has continued, with other public figures speaking about their own experiences with these drugs in the months and years since Bates' comments [1].
Sources
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