Oprah Winfrey Shows Off Her Small Waist In A Tight Mustard-Yellow Turtleneck For Gayle King’s Birthday After Losing 40 Pounds

In a more recent interview with People Magazine, she explained why she is “done shaming” anyone for using drugs to lose weight, including herself. She also deemed the weight loss drug she uses to be a “gift,” igniting more backlash. Many fans on social media interpreted this drug to be Ozempic. In December 2023, Winfrey sat down with the outlet and revealed: "I now use [an unnamed weight loss drug] as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing."

The Wrinkle in Time actress went on: "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 added: "I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself."

Winfrey stressed that while she takes weight loss medications, she still exercises. "After knee surgery, I started hiking and setting new distance goals each week," she dished to the publication. "I could eventually hike three to five miles every day and a 10-mile straight-up hike on weekends. I felt stronger, more fit and more alive than I’d felt in years."

When discussing her diet and the idea of taking drugs to lose weight, the television producer explained: "I eat my last meal at 4 o’clock, drink a gallon of water a day, and use the WeightWatchers principles of counting points. I had an awareness of [weight-loss] medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way."