It seems Oprah Winfrey has entered a new phase of her on-going obsession with weight loss — and this one is especially disconcerting.
The incredibly influential media mogul returned to her talk show host roots with a brand new ABC special on Monday night called, “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution” in which she promotes the use of expensive weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound.
In December, Winfrey confirmed that she takes a weight loss drug, but didn’t specify which one. In February, she announced her exit from the board of WeightWatchers after almost 10 years.
In her special, Winfrey lambasts fat stigma by telling viewers to “stop shaming and blaming” individuals and themselves for weight gain because they are struggling with a “disease” akin to alcoholism.
“The number one thing I hope people come away with is knowing that [obesity] is a disease, and it’s in the brain,” Winfrey said.
Dr. Jen Ashton, ABC News’ chief medical correspondent and obesity medicine physician, was also on hand to back up this claim.
“It is conclusively known that the conditions of overweight and obesity are complex, chronic disease states, not character flaws,” Ashton said. “So they should be managed accordingly.”
(It should be noted doctors are huge perpetuates of weight stigma, with research finding doctors are less likely to respect patients they deem overweight, which has caused many diagnoses to be overlooked.)
Winfrey’s special included interviews with people who had taken weight loss drugs as well. They spoke about how the drugs helped them with conditions like Type 2 diabetes, and how miserable their lives were when they were in larger bodies due to fat stigma.
Winfrey shared how sigma has deeply affected her as well.
“I have to say that I took on the shame that the world gave to me,” Winfrey said in the special. “For 25 years, making fun of my weight was…
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