“I wanted to be able to talk about whatever I wanted to talk about,” she said. “I did not want to have the appearance of any conflict of interest.”
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Oprah Winfrey has shared more information about her recent departure from WeightWatchers.
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In case you missed it, it was announced last month that Oprah is leaving the board of WeightWatchers after almost a decade.
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In 2015, she became a member of the board, acquiring a 10% stake in the company. And in a report from Variety, published in February, it was revealed that the mogul would not be standing for reelection at WeightWatchers’ annual shareholders meeting later this year.
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“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,” Oprah said in a statement, per Variety.
It was also noted in the report that she would donate her interest in WeightWatchers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Oprah has talked openly about her weight for many years, and as you're probably aware, her departure from WeightWatchers comes just two months after she publicly announced that she’d begun taking a weight loss medication.
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Without naming the particular drug, Oprah said in an interview with Peoplemagazine that she’d started using medication as a maintenance tool, saying, “I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing.
“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 the outlet. “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
WeightWatchers does support the use of some weight loss medications, like Wegovy (a semaglutide injection) and Zepbound (a tirzepatide injection), which are both marketed to possibly “help adults with obesity.”
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The WeightWatchers site makes no mention ofOzempic— asemaglutidedrug used to help lower blood sugar levels in adults with Type 2 diabetes, which has recently gained tractionamong celebritiesas a weight loss medication, despitenot being FDA-approvedfor that use.
At the time of her exit announcement, WeightWatchers said that Oprah’s decision to leave “was not the result of any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company's operations, policies, or practices.” And since she has not specified which weight loss drug she’s used, it was unclear whether her use of the medication had anything to do with her exit.
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But now the mogul has clarified her exact reasons for stepping back from the company.
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During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live this week, Oprah shared that her departure from WeightWatchers was so that she could air her upcoming ABC special about weight loss without being accused of profiting through the company’s affiliation with medications like Wegovy and Zepbound.
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The hourlong show — calledAn Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution — was announced last week following the news of her exit from WeightWatchers.
It's set to air on Monday and will see the host “bring together medical experts, leaders in the space, and people in the day-to-day struggle to talk about health equity and obesity with the intention to ultimately release the shame, judgment, and stigma surrounding weight.”
In a statement last week, Oprah said the topic is “very personal” to her — and she echoed similar sentiments while explaining to Jimmy Kimmel why she chose to leave her position at WeightWatchers in order to pursue the project.
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“I decided that because this special was really important to me and I wanted to be able to talk about whatever I wanted to talk about,” she said. “WeightWatchers is now in the business of being a weight health company that also administers drug medications for weight. I did not want to have the appearance of any conflict of interest.”
There to promote the show, Oprah added that she “resigned from the board” at WeightWatchers and donated all of her shares so that nobody could say, “‘Oh, she's doing that special, she's making money, promoting.’”
Prior to announcing that she'd used medication herself, Oprah said she thought using drugs for weight loss was the “easy way out.”
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“Shouldn't we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice,” she said while hosting a panel in September alongside WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani.
“Even when I first started hearing about the weight loss drugs, at the same time I was going through knee surgery, and I felt,I've got to do this on my own. Because if I take the drug, that's the easy way out,” she said.
You can watch her full interview with Jimmy Kimmel here.
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- Ellen DurneyBuzzFeed Staff
