Ahead of her upcoming TV special shining a light on weight loss medication, Oprah Winfrey revealed the real reason for her exit from WeightWatchers last month, after sitting on the board of directors for nearly a decade.
The 70-year-old media mogul said she parted ways with the company — where she served since 2015 — to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.
“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 on Thursday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Last year, WeightWatchers acquired a telehealth subscription service, providing access to prescription weight-loss drugs, for $106 million.
“So I resigned from the board and I gave, donated, all of my shares to the National Museum of African American History [and Culture],” Winfrey added. “So nobody can say: ‘Oh, she’s doing that special, she’s making money, and promoting…’ No, you cannot say that.”
Winfrey reportedly held about 1.1 million shares in the company, which equates to a 1.43% stake.
The former talk show queen has struggled with her weight for much of her life. She revealed in a People magazine cover story in December that she recently began using an unnamed weight-loss medication, saying she’d “released [her] shame about it.”
“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. “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
Winfrey’s primetime special, titled “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution,” is set to air Monday, March 18 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Filmed in front of a live studio audience, the hour-long special will feature medical experts discussing weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro.
