Names and faces
▮ Former talk show host Oprah Winfrey is leaving WeightWatchers board of directors and donating all of her interest in the company to a museum. Winfrey, who told People magazine in December that she was using a weight-loss medication, has served on the company’s board since 2015. She will not stand for re-election at WeightWatchers annual meeting in May. WW International said in a regulatory filing that Winfrey’s decision “was not the result of any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices.” The size of its board will go from 10 to nine members following its annual meeting, the New York company added. “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,” Winfrey said. According to FactSet, Winfrey’s stake of about 1.1 million shares made her the company’s largest individual shareholder, with a stake of 1.43%. Winfrey said she will donate her interest in WeightWatchers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
▮ Actor Hunter Schafer was among dozens of war protesters arrested at NBC’s headquarters in Manhattan during President Joe Biden’s appearance on “Late Night with Seth Myers” earlier this week, organizers confirmed Wednesday. The 25-year-old “Euphoria” star was part of a group of more than 100 demonstrators who packed the lobby Monday at 30 Rockefeller Plaza to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, said the group Jewish Voice for Peace. Schafer and other protesters wore black shirts reading, “Ceasefire Now” and “Not in Our Name” while chanting “Let Gaza Live” and other slogans as Biden’s motorcade pulled into the area, according to videos and photos of the event. Schafer, who like many protesters also wore a face mask, is seen at one point seated on the floor as others hold up a banner behind her reading, “Jews to Biden: Stop Arming Genocide.” Representatives for Schafer didn’t respond to messages seeking comment Wednesday. Protest organizers said she and others are due in court sometime next month. “We commend her commitment to Palestinian freedom and to a future of justice for everyone,” Sonya Meyerson-Knox, of Jewish Voice for Peace, said in an emailed statement.