Oprah Winfrey Shared The Truth Behind Her WeightWatchers Exit After Revealing That She Used Weight Loss Medication

“I look forward to continuing to advise and collaborate with WeightWatchers and CEO Sima Sistani in elevating the conversation around recognizing obesity as a chronic condition, working to reduce stigma, and advocating for health equity,” Oprah said in a statement, per Variety.

It was also noted in the report that she would donate her interest in WeightWatchers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Without naming the particular drug, Oprah said in an interview with People magazine that she’d started using medication as a maintenance tool, saying, “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,” she told the outlet. “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”

The WeightWatchers site makes no mention of Ozempic — a semaglutide drug used to help lower blood sugar levels in adults with Type 2 diabetes, which has recently gained traction among celebrities as a weight loss medication, despite not being FDA-approved for that use.

The hourlong show — called An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution — was announced last week following the news of her exit from WeightWatchers. 

It's set to air on Monday and will see the host “bring together medical experts, leaders in the space, and people in the day-to-day struggle to talk about health equity and obesity with the intention to ultimately release the shame, judgment, and stigma surrounding weight.”

“I decided that because this special was really important to me and I wanted to be able to talk about whatever I wanted to talk about,” she said. “WeightWatchers is now in the business of being a weight health company that also administers drug medications for weight. I did not want to have the appearance of any conflict of interest.”

There to promote the show, Oprah added that she “resigned from the board” at WeightWatchers and donated all of her shares so that nobody could say, “‘Oh, she's doing that special, she's making money, promoting.’”

“Shouldn't we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice,” she said while hosting a panel in September alongside WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani. 

“Even when I first started hearing about the weight loss drugs, at the same time I was going through knee surgery, and I felt, I've got to do this on my own. Because if I take the drug, that's the easy way out,” she said.