The shame game
`Making fun of my weight was a national sport,' Oprah says of the past 25 years
Oprah Winfrey has had enough of body shaming.
“For 25 years, making fun of my weight was a national sport,” Winfrey said. “I have to say that I took on the shame that the world gave to me.”
In a prime-time television special that aired on ABC Monday night, Winfrey read out a handful of headlines that had been written about her in the past, including a TV Guide cover headline in 1990 that branded her “bumpy, lumpy and downright dumpy,” saying she would “never forget” that day.
“I was ridiculed on every late night show for 25 years and tabloid covers for 25 years,” she added, saying she was now setting out to combat the “stigma” and “judgment” surrounding being overweight, and how people “choose to lose or not lose weight.”
The show, titled Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution, highlighted the impact that weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are having on patients, while exploring Winfrey's struggles with weight and her own experience with weight-loss medication.
Last year, Winfrey revealed that she uses weight-loss drugs prescribed by her doctor as a “maintenance tool,” although she did not specify which drug she used.
Winfrey said Monday the drugs were bringing “a sense of hope” and also freeing people — including her — from blaming themselves.
Winfrey emphatically described “how many times I have blamed myself, because you think, `I'm smart enough to figure this out,'” and the relief she felt when she learned “all along, it's you fighting
your brain.” The new weight-loss drugs that have soared in popularity recently work by suppressing appetite and curbing food cravings.
Winfrey, who was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 2007 and who was on the board of Weightwatchers for eight years before quitting in February, has faced unrelenting media scrutiny over her body for decades.
She has talked about struggling with yo-yo dieting and has said on her website that she has “fallen prey to just about every diet scam known to womankind.”
Recalling the episode on Monday, Winfrey said she had starved herself “for nearly five months” and that she began putting the weight back on “the very next day.”
Almost 42 per cent of U.S. adults are considered to be obese, and the popularity of such medications is skyrocketing, leading to shortages. The drugs are designed to treat diabetes but are used for obesity at higher doses.
The shortages have also led to some diabetes patients struggling to access their medication.
The drugs have also drawn concern, with experts highlighting the challenges they pose for those with eating disorders or body dysmorphia, and body positivity campaigners criticizing their targeting of plus-size influencers.
Winfrey acknowledged the controversy over weight-loss medication and the complexity of obesity as she wrapped up the hour-long special on Monday.
“For people who feel happy and healthy celebrating life in a bigger body and don't want the medications, I say bless you,” she said.
“And for all the people who believe diet and exercise is the best and only way to lose excess weight, bless you, too, if that works for you.”
“Let's stop the shaming and blaming,” Winfrey said.
“There's no place for it.”