Kathy Bates says Ozempic accounted for only part of her 100-pound weight loss

Kathy Bates is pushing back on the assumption that Ozempic was responsible for her entire weight loss. Bates has said she lost about 100 pounds over seven years, with roughly 80 of those pounds coming through lifestyle change and the last 15 to 20 coming after she started taking Ozempic for type 2 diabetes ^[1].

Her objection is to the framing that credits the drug for the whole result, the idea that she simply did it with Ozempic ^[1]. In her account, the medication came late in a process that had already been under way for years, and it was prescribed for diabetes rather than for weight loss.

Ozempic is approved to treat type 2 diabetes, and weight loss is a prominent side effect, which is why it is often prescribed off-label for weight loss ^[1]. Its active ingredient, semaglutide, is also approved under the name Wegovy to treat obesity ^[1]. Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, has told TODAY.com that it does not support off-label use of its medications ^[1]. A related drug, tirzepatide, is sold as Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for obesity, both made by Eli Lilly ^[1].

Bates is not the only public figure to describe a mixed picture. Meghan Trainor has said she worked with a dietitian, made lifestyle changes and hired a trainer, and also used Mounjaro after her second pregnancy ^[1]. Eric Stonestreet has said he takes Mounjaro for his type 2 diabetes, a diagnosis he kept private for years, and called it a game changer that changed his approach to eating and exercise ^[1]. Serena Williams has said a misconception about GLP-1 drugs is that they are a shortcut, describing years of walking for hours and switching to vegetarian and then vegan diets before turning to a GLP-1 after the birth of her second child ^[1].

Other accounts in the same coverage point in different directions. Kelly Clarkson has said she takes a weight-loss drug but that it is not Ozempic, and that she started after her blood work worsened ^[1]. Bunnie XO has described a bout of suicidal ideation while taking a GLP-1 ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

How a weight-loss result gets credited — to a drug, to years of effort, or to both — shapes how people taking these medications are treated by family, coworkers and even themselves. Bates's account suggests the two are not mutually exclusive, and that a drug started for type 2 diabetes can sit alongside a much larger and longer effort. For patients managing diabetes, that distinction is practical: Ozempic's approved use is blood sugar control, not weight loss, and semaglutide for obesity is a separate product with a separate label ^[1].

Bates also illustrates how much individual results vary. Some people in this coverage reported losing 25 or 52 pounds on a GLP-1, while others stopped because of side effects or appetite changes they disliked ^[1]. None of those figures predicts what any other patient will experience, and none of the accounts establishes how much of a given result came from the drug.

Several details about Bates's own treatment have not been reported, including the dose she takes, how long she had type 2 diabetes before starting Ozempic, and what specific lifestyle changes she made over the seven years. Bates's comments were made as part of a broader public conversation about which celebrities use weight-loss drugs, a conversation that has often treated any visible weight change as proof of medication use ^[1].