What’s Behind Explosive Reaction To Oprah’s Weight Loss Confession?

Posted on by EDITORIAL FEATURES

Oprah Winfrey’s revelations about her weight loss journey and a controversial theory on thin people have ignited heated discussions online.


The media icon, known for her deep dive into self-improvement and wellness, faced backlash after speaking out on her experience with a prescription weight loss drug while speaking with Dr. Ania Jastreboff on The Oprah Podcast.

“One of the things that I realized the very first time I took a GLP-1 was that all these years I thought that thin people – those people – just had more willpower,” Winfrey explained on the podcast. “They ate better foods. They were able to stick to it longer. They never had a potato chip. And then I realized that, ‘Oh, they’re not even thinking about it. They’re only eating when they’re hungry and they’re stopping when they’re full.’”

While Winfrey’s honesty struck a chord with some, a short clip from the conversation posted to Instagram caused a flurry of sharp criticism.

Detractors flooded the comments, with many asserting that her remarks unfairly oversimplified the reality for many skinny people, who actively work to maintain their weight.

“Plenty of thin people have to work just as hard to stay thin as others do to lose weight,” one comment read, summing up much of the sentiment online.

Winfrey, who has publicly battled yo-yo dieting struggles for decades, confirmed in December 2023 that she had started using a weight loss drug.

At the time, she embraced the breakthrough as a positive shift in how society approaches weight management.

“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 said.