Oprah Winfrey revealed on Thursday that she left Weight Watchers due to her upcoming new special about the rise of prescription weight loss drugs.
via: Daily Beast
Winfrey says her decision to resign from the board of WeightWatchers after almost 10 years was informed by her work on an upcoming TV special that will look at the impact of prescription weight-loss drugs.
The talk show host spoke about her resignation—which was announced by WeightWatchers last month—during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thursday.
“I decided that because this special was really important to me and I wanted to be able to talk about whatever I want to talk about, and 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,” Winfrey said.
“So I resigned from the board and I gave—donated all of my shares to the National Museum of African American History [and Culture],” she added. “So nobody can say: ‘Oh, she’s doing that special, she’s making money, and promoting…’ No, you cannot say that.”
Winfrey, who told People in December that she has been using an unspecified weight-loss drug, is examining the rise of medications like Ozempic and Wegovy in An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolutionwhich is set to air on ABC on Monday.
“For the first time in history, new drugs could prove to be the game changer to stem the tide of people living with obesity, an epidemic which has grown exponentially since the 1970s, costing $173 billion per year in medical costs in the United States alone,” the network said in announcement about the special.
