Oprah Winfrey Admits Taking Weight-Loss Drug After Years of Fat-Shaming: “Been Blamed, Shamed”

Oprah Winfrey, who has notably lost a lot of weight, has said in an interview that in addition to exercise and diet regimens. The talk-show host has also added medication to her weight-loss program, making the method rather holistic. As she's about to turn 70 next month, Winfrey feels reflective, she told PEOPLE as part of their cover story. 

"It was public sport to make fun of me for 25 years," Winfrey opened up about the angst of her weight. "I have been blamed and shamed, and I blamed and shamed myself."

Early in her career, she recalls feeling heartbroken when she was included on the list of caustic fashion critic Mr. Blackwell. "I was on the cover of some magazine and it said, 'Dumpy, Frumpy, and Downright Lumpy.' I didn’t feel angry. I felt sad. I felt hurt. I swallowed the shame. I accepted that it was my fault."

Winfrey's tenacious recovery from knee surgery in 2021 catalyzed her spirit toward her goal of weight loss over the next two years. For Winfrey, changes in her weight "occupied five decades of space in my brain, yo-yo-ing and feeling like why can’t I just conquer this thing, believing willpower was my failing."

But after the surgery, Winfrey wanted things to change. "I started hiking and setting new distance goals each week. I could eventually hike three to five miles every day and a 10-mile straight-up hike on weekends," she says. "I felt stronger, more fit, and more alive than I’d felt in years."

But her weight still wasn't down to something that made her feel good about herself. She revealed that she had always been aware of weight loss medication, but felt the need "to prove I had the willpower to do it." In July, Winfrey's approach to utilizing medical aids changed when she participated in a recorded panel discussion with physicians and specialists on weight loss called The State of Weight, which was a part of Oprah Daily's Life You Want series. The panel changed everything she used to think and feel about medication. 

Oprah said that she is "releasing my shame" over employing a "tool." She did not specify the medication she was using, although weight reduction and medical communities have been talking a lot about pills like Ozempic and Monjourno, per Mirror.

Winfrey claims that when she accepted the science, she "released my shame about it" and spoke with her physician, who subsequently recommended a prescription for weight loss. "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 done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself."

Oprah now follows a comprehensive schedule. She started adding more physical activity to her routine, such as hiking, and she established objectives for herself that made her feel stronger and more fit. She also talked about her nutrition, stating that she drinks a gallon of water or more today and eats her final meal at four o'clock. To keep herself on track, the TV producer also keeps track of her WeightWatchers points. She says it's not just the medication, but a comprehensive, holistic routine, that helps her.