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16 celebrities who have spoken out about taking GLP-1 drugs
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Asiya A.
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro were originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes but have also become popular for weight loss.
The drugs help lower blood sugar levels and can also support weight loss, with studies showing they may reduce the risk of serious heart problems in people with type 2 diabetes.
As more celebrities open up about using the drugs, here's a look at the 16 stars who have shared their experiences and what they've had to say.
Serena Williams
Tennis icon Serena Williams revealed that she's using a GLP-1 medication and has partnered with healthcare company Ro as a paid celebrity ambassador.
"I trained at the highest level, ate a clean diet, pushed myself, and still, after having kids, my body just wouldn’t respond. I realized it wasn’t about willpower; it was biological," she said in a press release. "My body needed the GLP-1 and clinical support...this isn’t a shortcut. It’s healthcare."
Williams says she has lost 31 pounds in eight months and told TODAY that her blood sugar has returned to normal while her joints feel "lighter, like they’re not taking as much of a load".
She also admitted she initially resisted the medication: "I'm playing professional tennis. I'm literally training five hours a day... eventually, when GLP-1s came out, it was like, 'No way, no how. That's not for me.'"
After trying vegan, vegetarian and high-protein diets, along with walking 20,000 steps a day, she eventually decided to give it a chance.
"And so eventually, I just, you know, I saw my friends using it, a lot of people on it, and I tried it. And it actually worked."
Williams hopes her decision to speak publicly will encourage others to do the same.
"Yes, I am on GLP-1s, and I am going public. I’m not ashamed to say it -and say it loud. GLP-1s changed my life," she added.
Vanessa Williams
Actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams revealed in an exclusive interview with Hello! Magazine that she has been taking Mounjaro for the past two years while managing menopause.
"My fifties were hard. I started perimenopause in my late forties but suddenly, at 51, it’s crazy how your body changes. You feel out of control because you’re working out the same way, eating the same, and your body is not reacting the way it used to," she said.
She called the medication a "game-changer," and added: "Science is amazing. I’m like: 'What’s next? Bring it on!'"
Macy Gray
Grammy-winning musician Macy Gray admitted she struggled with constipation while taking Ozempic.
"Oh boy, my stomach hurts. I’ve just been really constipated," she said on The Surreal Life, cited by PEOPLE. "I took Ozempic. I can’t go to the bathroom, and I was up all night."
Constipation is one of the most commonly reported side effects of GLP-1s along with diarrhea, vomiting, and sickness.
The 'I Try' songstress revealed in an additional confessional during the episode that she wanted to lose weight before her TV appearance.
"Quietly, I’m kind of a vain person... I was actually trying to take [the weight] off before the show because I didn’t want to be super fat on TV," she said. "So, I thought, OK, I’m not taking [the weight] off the right way, let me see if I can get one of these Ozempic."
"I was actually trying to take [the weight] off before the show because I didn’t want to be super fat on TV, but here we are," she added.
Chrissy Teigen
Chrissy Teigen revealed she turned to Ozempic after suffering a miscarriage in 2020.
"My body was completely stuck," she said on her Self-Conscious podcast. "I really let myself indulge when I was pregnant… when I had lost that baby at 20 weeks, I had probably gained an extra 40 pounds that I wasn’t comfortable with."
She explained she was coping with "a deep depression of seeing this pregnant belly with no baby in it."
Rebel Wilson
Rebel Wilson revealed she briefly used Ozempic after her fertility doctor suggested losing weight before IVF treatment.
"Someone like me could have a bottomless appetite for sweets, so I think those drugs can be good," she said in an interview with The Sunday Times.
Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell described Mounjaro as a "miracle drug" after losing around 60 pounds following a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
"I've had trouble with my weight my whole life," she said. "So Mounjaro saved my life."
O'Donnell said she has steadily lost "a pound or two a month for three years," adding: "I really wish I could do commercials for Mounjaro and they would drop the price instead of paying me."
"Because when I see people struggling with obesity, I want to say I know the shame that we carry and the humiliation that is dealt to people who are overweight."
The former talk show host said she wanted to be open about taking the medication despite some people feeling uncomfortable discussing weight-loss drugs.
"I know some people are ashamed to talk about it, but I wanted to share how it helped me, and I don't like secrets as a whole," she said.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey, who has been candid about her weight-loss journey, revealed she uses a prescription weight-loss medication.
She described it as life-changing in a December 2023 interview with PEOPLE.
"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. I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself,” Winfrey said.
Sunny Hostin
After gaining 40 pounds during the pandemic, The View co-host Sunny Hostin said Mounjaro dramatically improved her health.
"I found that my cholesterol went up to 200 when I gained the extra weight. And I use Mounjaro, and my cholesterol is 140 now," she said. "I feel better, I think I look better, and that’s what this is about for people."
She further opened up about her journey on The View‘s Behind the Table podcast.
"I think these medications are changing lives and saving lives," Hostin said. "We were home for 18 months. I became a mixologist, I drank a lot of margaritas, a lot of sidecars. I love to cook anyway, I baked a lot of bread…I had gone up four sizes."
"What you see now is what I looked like before the pandemic, before menopause. My husband says, ‘Oh wow, you look like what you looked like when I met you,'" she added.
Tori Spelling
Tori Spelling said Ozempic didn't work for her, but switching to Mounjaro helped her lose weight after the birth of her fifth child.
"I did Mounjaro, and everyone admits it now," she said. "It’s a different time so I don’t feel shamed saying that."
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne said Ozempic helped her lose 42 pounds but left her thinner than she wanted.
"I lost 42 pounds now, and it’s just enough," the 73-year-old said on Piers Morgan’s podcast, Piers Morgan Uncensored, in 2023. "I didn’t actually want to go this thin, but it just happened, and I’ll probably put it all on again soon."
She also described experiencing weeks of nausea while taking the medication.
"You don’t throw up physically, but you’ve got that feeling," she explained. "For about two, three weeks, I felt nauseous the whole time. You get very thirsty, and you don’t want to eat. That’s it."
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg revealed in an interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show that she uses Mounjaro and credits it with helping her lose the weight of "almost two people".
"I’m doing that wonderful shot that works for folks who need some help, and it’s been really good for me," she said.
Amy Schumer
Amy Schumer said she stopped using Ozempic after it left her too unwell to spend time with her son.
"I was one of the people that felt sick - I couldn’t, like, play with my son," she said.
She also criticized celebrities who deny taking the drugs.
"Everybody’s lying. Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, smaller portions,’ like shut the f*** up. You’re on Ozempic or one of those things," she said. "Just be real with the people."
Chelsea Handler
Comedian and TV host Chelsea Handler revealed her doctor prescribed Ozempic without much discussion. "I didn’t even know I was on it," she said.
After returning from a holiday in Spain, she gave herself an injection before meeting a friend for lunch, where the conversation made everything click.
"I went to lunch with a girlfriend a few days later, and she was like, ‘I’m not really eating anything. I’m so nauseous, I’m on Ozempic,'" she recalled. "And I was like, ‘I’m kind of nauseous too.’ But I had just come back from Spain and was jet-lagged."
Once she realized what she had been taking, Handler decided it wasn't for her.
"I’m an irresponsible drug user," she joked, "but I’m not gonna take a diabetic drug. I tried it, and I’m not going to do that. That’s not for me. That’s not right for me."
Billie Jean King
Tennis legend Billie Jean King has spoken candidly about living with binge eating disorder.
"I’m a binge eater. Every morning I wake up, I tell myself, 'I have an eating disorder,'" she said.
"It’s two sides. Let’s say I want a quart of ice cream. One side will say, 'Yeah, baby, I’m going to have that ice cream no matter what!’ The other side says, ‘No, don’t do that. It’s not healthy. You know you don’t need it.'"
She explained she was interested after hearing Ozempic could help reduce obsessive thoughts about food.
"If [a weight-loss medication] does quiet the voices - if that’s a part of it - now, I’m interested in it because that would be really great," she said. "It gets exhausting and tiring. And I don’t want to fight over these things."
Kris Jenner
Reality TV star Kris Jenner revealed she tried a GLP-1 medication before it became mainstream but quickly stopped.
"I did not do like an Ozempic," she said during a May 5 appearance on the SHE MD Podcast with Dr. Thais Aliabadi and women’s advocate Mary Alice Haney. "I tried it... and it made me really sick."
Jenner said the reaction was so severe that she immediately contacted Aliabadi for help.
"I can't work anymore. I can't. I'm so sick. I can't, like nauseous. And so she goes, 'Okay, okay. Let's try something else,'" she said.
Jenner said she now relies on peptide injections and supplements under medical supervision.
Kathy Bates
Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates clarified that Ozempic only helped with the final stage of her 100-pound weight-loss journey.
"There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic," she said. "But I have to impress upon people out there that this was hard work for me, especially during the pandemic. It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough."
Bates shared that her journey toward better health began after a 2017 diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes.
"I ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem," she explained. "[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I’d seen what my father had gone through. He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight."
The Titanic star has made major changes to her diet, swapping "burgers and Cokes and pizza" for a healthier diet and avoiding food after 8 p.m.