The 68-year-old famous media personality opens up during a panel about her weight loss journey, recalling an unpleasant experience when she was at a higher weight.
- Oct 2, 2023
AceShowbiz - Even Oprah Winfrey can't escape body-shaming. The 68-year-old famous media personality opened up about her weight loss journey, recalling an unpleasant experience when she was at a higher weight.
While hosting an Oprah Daily panel on the obesity and weight crisis, the talk show queen said that it happened when she was shopping. "It's that thing where people are like, 'Let me show you the gloves. Would you like to look at the handbags? Because we know that there's nothing in here for you,' " Oprah said of her past shopping experiences to the panel's attendees. "There is a condescension. There is stigma."
Oprah, who was joined by obesity specialists Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford and Dr. Melanie Jay, psychologist Dr. Rachel Goldman as well as CEO of Weight Watchers Sima Sistani at the panel, also revealed that she dieted a lot because her "body always seems to want to go back to a certain weight."
"You all know I've been on this journey for most of my life. My highest weight was 237 lbs. I don't know if there is another public person whose weight struggle has been exploited as much as mine over the years," the media mogul shared.
Oprah added that she was "shamed in the tabloids every week [for] about 25 years" for "not having the willpower" amid her weight journey. "This is a world that has shamed people for being overweight forever," she said.
According to the former host of "The Oprah Winfrey Show", no other celebrity's weight loss journey has been "exploited" as much as hers. "And all of us who've lived it know that people treat you differently, they just do," she explained.
Oprah also discussed the Ozempic craze among celebrities. "Shouldn't we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice," she opined. "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."
