Jillian Michaels suspects that Ozempic is paying Oprah Winfrey.
The 49-year-old revealed her suspicions during an interview with Page Six.
“Oprah has a financial incentive with Ozempic… Oprah, I believe, is one of the biggest shareholders of WeightWatchers, and WeightWatchers is now in the Ozempic business.”
“I believe [WeightWatchers] bought a company that provides access to these drugs, now there is a financial interest in these drugs. I think it’s important to put that out there right off the bat.”
Oprah became an ambassador for WeightWatchers less than a year after buying a stake in it.
At the time, she claimed that the brand had helped her lose 40 pounds when she weighed 237 pounds.
“WeightWatchers is easier than any other program I’ve ever been on. It’s a lifestyle, a way of eating, and a way of living that’s so freeing. You never feel like you are on a diet, and it works.”
“I can honestly tell you I struggle no more. I’m eating everything I love — tacos, pasta. I’ve never felt deprived.”
The weight loss company now plans to expand by providing “doctor-led access to prescription medication,” which includes Ozempic, a Type 2 diabetes medication.
“What we are now saying is we know better and it’s on us to do better so that we can help people feel positive and destigmatize this conversation around obesity.” WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani
Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey revealed she was on an anonymous weight loss medication in December 2023.
“I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing… 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… I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
