Stars Who've Used Ozempic and Weight Loss Drugs
Oprah Winfrey attends THR Presents "Live: The Color Purple" at Crosby Hotel on Dec. 11, 2023, in New York City.
Once used exclusively for managing diabetes, celebrities' use of weight loss medications Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy thrust the drugs into the mainstream.
Despite their ubiquity, not every star who's used them has had positive experiences in their efforts to speed up their slimming down, with several celebrities lamenting the nausea they suffered on the drugs.
Whether there's a financial incentive to their endorsements or they're just trying to promote a more honest culture around body image and standards for women, these celebs have all spoken publicly about using Ozempic and its ilk to drop pounds.
Related: What It's Like to Take Ozempic, Week by Week
Celebrities on Ozempic and Other Weight Loss Drugs
Amy Schumer
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Amy Schumer, who's been open about having liposuction in the past, was just as candid about her use of Ozempic for weight loss—and she didn't love it.
"I tried it," she said on Watch What Happens Live in June 2023. "I was one of those people that felt so sick and couldn't play with my son. I was so skinny and he's throwing a ball at me and [I couldn't]."
"I immediately invested [in it] because I knew everyone was going to try it," she said, adding that she gets vexed when celebrities lie about not using weight loss meds to drop pounds. "Everyone has been lying saying, 'Oh smaller portions.' Like shut the f—k up. You are on Ozempic or one of those things or you got work done," she said. "Be real with the people. When I got lipo, I said I got lipo."
Anthony Anderson
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Black-ish star Anthony Anderson, who has type 2 diabetes, said the Ozempic fad has negatively impacted patients who need semaglutide medications for health reasons.
"I will say this," he told PEOPLE. "It's creating a shortage for those of us who need the medicine that we need and not for weight loss issues, but for our health."
Related: How Much Weight Can You Expect to Lose On Ozempic?
Oprah Winfrey
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Billionaire Oprah Winfrey opened up about using weight loss drugs in December 2023. Winfrey, who owns a majority stake in WW (formerly Weight Watchers), revealed her decision to use unspecified weight loss medications after WW launched their own initiatives with the drugs.
"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 PEOPLE. "I'm absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself."
Winfrey incorporates the drugs on what she says was an as-needed basis in conjunction with diet and lifestyle changes. It's important to note that Winfrey's self-described occasional use of medications like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy goes against doctor recommendations, which are to use medications long-term.
Remi Bader
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Influencer Remi Bader revealed on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast that her doctors told her in early 2020 that she needed to go on Ozempic for health reasons: Bader recalled that she was pre-diabetic, overweight and had insulin resistance. However, the medication didn't work out well for her in the long run.
"I had a lot of mixed feelings [about using Ozempic]," she said. "A few months later I went off it and got into the bad binging."
Bader sought treatment for binge eating afterward and said she gained "double the weight back" after stopping her Ozempic use. "I saw a doctor and they were like, it's 100% because I went on Ozempic," she said. "It was making me think I wasn't hungry for so long, I lost some weight. I didn't wanna be obsessed with being on it long-term. I was like, 'I bet the second I got off I'm gonna get starving again.' I did, and my binging got so much worse. So then I kind of blamed Ozempic."
Related: What Happens When You Stop Taking Ozempic
Golnesa "GG" Gharachedaghi
Former Shahs of Sunset star Golnesa "GG" Gharachedaghi used Ozempic specifically for weight loss.
"I had to get a lot of steroid injections last year, which caused me to really pack on some weight, and I don't know if it's because I'm 41 years old or I've had a baby," she said in a February 2023 Instagram video. "Whatever it is, I’ve been having a very, very, very hard time getting rid of that weight."
"When I started semaglutide shots, I was 138 pounds. Now, I’m about 110 pounds," she said. "As you can see, I've lost a little more weight than I was anticipating to lose. I decided I'm only gonna weigh myself on the days of my injections just to document it. And on April 30, I got on the scale and I saw 111 lbs. That’s when I knew, it's time to cut back. That's when I started cutting down on units and going backwards and backwards until finally now, I'm just on maintenance."
She added, "I encourage it to anybody who's having a hard time losing weight and wants the 'easy route.' Summer's around the corner."
Related: The Best Exercise for People on Ozempic, According to Obesity Doctors
Elon Musk
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In October 2022, the world's richest man, Elon Musk, revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that fasting "and Wegovy" were his keys to weight loss.
Chelsea Handler
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Comedian Chelsea Handler said she tried Ozempic after getting it from her "anti-aging doctor."
"I didn't even know I was on it. She said, 'If you ever want to drop five lbs., this is good,'" Handler recalled on the Call Her Daddy podcast. She said she injected herself with it after a vacation and soon learned a friend of hers also used the medication and complained she was nauseous from it.
"I'm not on it anymore. That's too irresponsible," she said. "I'm an irresponsible drug user, but I'm not gonna take a diabetic drug. I tried it, and I'm not gonna do that. That's not for me. That's not right for me."
She added, "I've injected about four or five of my friends with Ozempic because I realized I didn't wanna use it cause it's silly. It's for heavy people. Everyone is on Ozempic. It's gonna backfire, something bad is gonna happen."
Related: Top Foods to Limit If You're On Ozempic, According to Obesity Doctors
Tracy Morgan
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Comedian and 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan had a predictably hilarious take on his use of Ozempic.
"I went and got a prescription, and I got Ozempic," he said on TODAY in August 2023. "I ain't letting it go. It cuts my appetite in half. Now I only eat half a bag of Doritos."
Sheryl Underwood
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The Talk host Sheryl Underwood told The Messenger in December 2023 that she lost 100 pounds with the help of Wegovy, which also helped her ease off medications she was on for other health issues.
"I'm about three different sizes because I still got a booty," she said, joking that she's a "baby Kardashian."
Related: What Happens if You Eat Too Much Sugar on Ozempic, According to Obesity Doctors
Boy George
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Boy George wrote in his memoir Karma (via PEOPLE) that he tried both Ozempic and Mounjaro to lose weight after struggling for years.
Noting that he also had a tummy tuck, he called semaglutide medications "wonder drugs" and said "anyone who was fat last year and is now skinny" was likely using them.
Sharon Osbourne
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Sharon Osbourne said she thinks she lost too much weight on Ozempic, but that she doesn't regret using it.
"You can't stay on it forever. I lost 42 pounds now and it's just—enough," she said on Piers Morgan Uncensored in September 2023. "I didn’t want to go this thin. It just happened."
Osbourne said the medication made her feel nauseous for about two weeks straight, adding, "You get very thirsty and you don’t eat. That’s why I say you have to keep this stuff away from younger people. They will go berserk on it and it's not right."
She also noted that she got so thin that her husband Ozzy Osbourne began calling her "Nancy Reagan."
Related: How Common Is Nausea on Ozempic?
Gracie McGraw
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Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's daughter Gracie McGraw said she's on Ozempic for health reasons: She has polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which can cause insulin resistance. She wrote on Instagram (via Page Six) that she switched from Ozempic to a lower dose of Mounjaro to help manage her PCOS symptoms.
Related: The No. 1 Weight Loss Secret, According to Obesity Doctors
Patti Stanger
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Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger first used Ozempic, then stopped three weeks later after it gave her "the worst acid reflux."
She still uses other weight loss drugs, however, today.
"I waited, and all my hairdresser friends went on Mounjaro," she said on the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast. "I'm not diabetic, but I do take a sugar pill twice a day to keep my sugar down. So my doctor recommended it, and she said, 'I'll give you the vial of Tirzepatide,' which is the ingredient [in Mounjaro]."
Dolores Catania
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Real Housewives of New Jersey star Dolores Catania told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that she was using Ozempic, quipping, "I wasn't going to come to [the] reunion looking bigger than anyone else, so I got on the bandwagon."
Related: The Surprising Benefit of Weight Loss Drugs, According to Obesity Doctors
Jennifer Fessler
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Fellow Garden State Real Housewife Jennifer Fessler said on Watch What Happens Live in March 2023 that she'd used weight loss medications to lose weight. When pressed if it was Ozempic, she told host Cohen, "You said it, I didn't, but whatever works, here I am."
That December, she revealed she was hospitalized for an impacted bowel, a side effect of her Ozempic use.
Emily Simpson
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Real Housewives of Orange County star Emily Simpson said on Jeff Lewis Live in June 2023 that she got liposuction and used Ozempic for a month at the suggestion of her doctor. She said that after being on the medication, her poor eating habits "went away," adding, "It made me more conscientious of what I was eating and so that was a really great kick start for me."
Heather Gay
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Heather Gay of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City said that Ozempic didn't do much for her.
"I've been on it for a long time, but hadn't really seen much results," she told PEOPLE in November 2023. "And I haven't had massive results, but enough for people to notice, which is great."
Lauren Manzo
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RHONJ and Manzo'ed With Children star Lauren Manzo used Mounjaro for weight loss but advised about the negative message some of her reality show peers and celebrities send with their use of medications to slim down.
"I think it's being abused because I see people, Housewives, that are posting and you literally see their ribs, and it's sad because you were already skinny," she explained. "That is a bad thing for somebody like me who has suffered from high blood pressure and anxiety from being super heavy and depression. People that are already 130 pounds and just want to lose 10 more, and they want to stay on it—that, I don't respect."
