Speculation about which celebrities are on Ozempic reached a new high this week when many of them looked noticeably ‘slimmed-down’ at the Oscars ceremony.
The drugs are so widespread in Hollywood that the makers of the weight-loss drugs have launched a campaign pleading with influential people to stop using them for ‘vanity reasons’, which has led to shortages affecting those who genuinely need them.
Due to the gray area around prescribing these drugs ‘off-label’, and the stigma of using them when they are in short demand, many celebs have been reluctant to go public about their Ozempic use.
But we’ve compiled the list of all 16 stars who have admitted to using the medications:
Blockbuster weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have surged in popularity in recent years, which could largely be due to celebrity influence
Boy George
Boy George said he has taken both Ozempic and Mounjaro for weight loss
British pop singer Boy George has opened up about his fluctuating weight in his memoir Karma, which was released earlier this year.
‘I know I don’t enjoy being overweight and it’s something I really want to deal with,’ he writes.
‘I have struggled with my weight most of my life and being under public and media scrutiny doesn’t help.’
The Karma Chameleon singer, 62, wrote that he started out with Ozempic and then switched to Mounjaro.
Mounjaro uses the active ingredient tirzepatide, which targets GLP-1 and the hormone glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP).
Mounjaro is only FDA-approved for type 2 diabetes.
George writes: ‘I love food, and I can’t control my appetite, but I think I have finally got it under control.’
‘Well, I’m on Mounjaro. Isn’t everyone? Trust me, anyone who was fat last year and is not skinny is on the wonder drug.’
The singer also got a tummy tuck several years ago ‘to get rid of excess skin’ after losing 100 pounds.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey, 69, pictured in early December 2023
The internationally-renowned television host finally admitted to using a weight loss drug in December — after previously vowing she would never use Ozempic or a similar drug because they were the ‘easy way out’.
The 69-year-old had lost more than 40lbs (18kg) over recent months, leading to speculation that she may have used a weight loss medication to help.
Oprah weighed 237lbs (107.5kg) at her heaviest, she has previously revealed. She did not say what her current weight was.
She revealed in an interview with People that she ‘now [uses] it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing’.
‘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 did not reveal which weight loss drug she used, although many speculated that she had got a prescription for Ozempic.
Oprah said she took the medication before Thanksgiving, and credited it with ensuring she only gained half a pound rather than eight.
The star has also made a number of adjustments to her life to help her lose weight, which began last year when she said she was ‘clearing out’ her fridge.
She now eats her last meal at 4pm, drinks a gallon of water a day and uses WeightWatchers principle of counting points to help monitor what she eats. She also goes on hikes.
Heather Gay
Heather Gay said despite taking Ozempic for several months, she has not seen strong results
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City announced in November that she has been taking Ozempic to lose weight.
At Variety’s Women of Reality TV event, she said that while she uses the drug, she has yet to see a big difference.
‘I’ve been on it for a long time, but hadn’t really seen much results,’ she told People.
She also said that people around her started acting differently when they learned she was on Ozempic, which she found ‘discouraging.’
‘You lose five pounds, people are nicer to you,’ the 49-year-old said. ‘I don’t know why. It’s just the way the world works, and that makes me sad for women.’
‘But I’m happy that I’m down five.’
Robbie Williams
‘And I need it, medically. I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 self-loathing,’ Robbie Williams said
Singer-songwriter Robbie Williams said that he’s on ‘something like Ozempic’ to keep the pounds off.
After overcoming addictions to drugs and alcohol, the English hitmaker has revealed that he’s on a mission to better his health.
‘Babe, I’m on Ozempic,’ he told The Times. ‘Well, something like Ozempic.’
‘It’s like a Christmas miracle.’
The 50-year-old, who did not reveal exactly what drug or regimen he’s on, said that he has lost 25 pounds so far.
Williams has also said that he struggles with body dysmorphia, a mental health condition that causes a person to obsess over flaws in their appearance, such as weight.
‘And I need it, medically. I’ve been diagnosed with type 2 self-loathing,’ he said.
‘It’s shockingly catastrophic to my mental health to be bigger.’
Tracy Morgan
Staying strong: After filming his spot on the Today Show where he admitted to using Ozempic, Tracy exited the building with the help of a cane
The comedian has also revealed he was taking Ozempic, saying the drug ‘cuts my appetite in half.’
The 55-year-old said he had lost several pounds on the drug and that he ‘ain’t letting it go.’
Speaking on the Today show in August last year, the star said he injected himself with the drug every Thursday to help with weight loss.
When told he had been working on his body and health a lot on the show, he said: ‘No, that’s Ozempic.
‘That’s how this weight got lost. I went and got a prescription and I got Ozempic.
‘And I ain’t letting it go!’
He added: ‘It cuts my appetite in half. Now I only eat half a bag of Doritos.’
Back in 2014, the star was involved in a collision with a Walmart truck driver who had reportedly been sleep-deprived behind the wheel.
He was wheelchair-bound for several months, but has now come a long way from the accident. He now needs a cane to help him walk.
Remi Bader
Remi Bader pictured attending the 2023 Oscars in Los Angeles, California
Plus-size model and TikTok star Remi Bader also revealed that she used Ozempic.
The 28-year-old was prescribed the drug when she became pre-diabetic.
She lost some weight on the drug but said that when she came off it she regained twice the weight that she had lost.
‘I was like, “I bet the second I go off I’m going to get starving again”,’ she told the Not Skinny but Not Fat podcast in January.
‘And I did. My bingeing got so much worse, so then I kind of blame Ozempic. I gained double the weight back after’.
She went to see a doctor about all the weight she’d put back on and was told that it was ‘100 percent because you went on Ozempic’.
She says she is now ‘annoyed’ that the drug has become a trend because it is meant to be reserved for people with diabetes.
Dolores Catania
Dolores Catania hopped on the weight loss ‘bandwagon’ last year
Another Real Housewives star has opened about using Mounjaro to lose weight.
Dolores Catania, who starred on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, said last year that she hopped on the ‘bandwagon.’
She also revealed that ‘not one’ of her co-stars isn’t also on the trend.
‘I wasn’t going to come to the reunion looking any bigger than anyone else, so I got on the bandwagon,’ she told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live.
When Cohen asked about side effects, Catania replied: ‘Just not hungry.’
Chelsea Handler
Chelsea Handler pictured arriving at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in 2020
The comedian has revealed she was prescribed Ozempic to help combat aging — but didn’t even realize she was on it.
The 48-year-old said she shed a few pounds on the drug but stopped using it after she realized it was Ozempic — saying it should be left for diabetes patients.
The drug was initially developed for diabetics but trials showed it caused the additional benefit of blocking hunger.
Ozempic is a weakened version of Wegovy, which was purpose-built for obesity.
Speaking on the podcast Call Her Daddy, Handler said: ‘So, my anti-aging doctor just hands it out it anybody.
‘I didn’t even know I was on it. She said, “If you ever want to drop five pounds, this is good.’
She only found out while at lunch with a friend shortly after returning from a vacation to Spain last year.
Her friend told her that she wasn’t really eating anything and felt nauseous because she was on Ozempic. Handler responded that she also felt nauseous, but that it was probably down to her jetlag.
When she said she was injecting herself with semaglutide her friend explained: ‘That’s Ozempic!’
Handler said: ‘I’m not on it anymore. That’s too irresponsible.
‘I’ve injected about four or five of my friends with Ozempic because I realized I didn’t want to use it ’cause it’s silly. It’s for heavy people.’
Golnesa ‘GG’ Gharachedaghi
‘I did what all the people are doing, and lying about. I’m on the weight-loss shots, honey, okay?’ Gharachedaghi said
Bravo’s Golnesa ‘GG’ Gharachedaghi has not announced a brand name, but she has admitted to using a generic version of semaglutide.
Gharachedaghi, who starred in reality hit Shahs of Sunset, posted a video to Instagram last year detailing her progress.
‘I did what all the people are doing, and lying about. I’m on the weight-loss shots, honey, okay?’ she said.
‘I’m just not gonna lie about it, because I always keep it real about what is fake.’
She said that she gained weight after health issues required her to take steroid injections.
‘I’ve been having a very, very, very hard time getting rid of that weight,’ the 42-year-old said.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk has also used Ozempic. He’s pictured above attending the Vanity Fair Oscars party in 2020
One of the world’s richest men said Ozempic made him ‘fit, ripped and healthy’.
Elon Musk said he lost almost 30lbs (13.6kg) while taking the drug.
He revealed that he was using it in October last year when a fan asked what the secret was to his new slimmed-down appearance.
‘Fasting’, Musk, 52, replied before adding: ‘And Wegovy’.
He has also said his transformation was down to: ‘Fasting + Ozempic/Wegovy + no tasty food for me.’
He said his weight-loss journey was prompted after seeing unflattering images of himself on a yacht.
The 51-year-old’s weight loss formula prompted admiration from fans.
He also admitted to suffering a side effect from the drug. A Twitter user asked: ‘Does it give you those nasty burps? Taste like rotten eggs lol ugh.’
He replied: ‘Yeah, next-level.’
Patti Stanger
Stanger stopped taking Ozempic due to side effects and then switched to Mounjaro
TV personality and CEO Patti Stanger is also taking Ozempic, despite not being diabetic.
However, she has been candid about the side effects.
‘I got the worst acid reflux. And I was not feeling good,’ the 62-year-old said.
‘So, I stopped three weeks in.’
Stanger later switched to Mounjaro after several friends went on it, which cause not caused the same nausea and acid reflux.
She has also admitted to taking drugs to bring down her blood sugar, though she has not specified which ones.
Amy Schumer
Amy Schumer has said she decided Ozempic was not for her
The comedian and actress revealed in June that she had tried the medication — but quickly gave it up.
The 42-year-old said on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen: ‘Like a year ago, I tried it.
‘I was one of those people that felt so sick and couldn’t play with my son.
‘I was so skinny and he’s throwing a ball at me and [I couldn’t].’
She said she quickly gave up the medication, realizing it was not for her. She said: ‘And you’re like, “OK, this isn’t livable for me”. But I immediately invested [in it] because I knew everyone was going to try it.’
Schumer revealed that she had opted for liposuction, however, to help lose weight.
She said: ‘I just wanted to say that because if anybody sees me in pictures or anything and they’re like, she looks thinner, and whatever: It’s because I had a surgery.’
Gracie McGraw
Gracie McGraw, 26, wrote on Instagram that she ‘did Ozempic last year’ and is now on a ‘low dose’ of Mounjaro for PCOS
The daughter of country music royalty Tim McGraw and Faith Hill started using Ozempic for weight loss last year.
Gracie McGraw, 26, wrote on Instagram that she ‘did Ozempic last year’ and is now on a ‘low dose’ of Mounjaro.
‘No need to accuse when I have been open about it,’ she said.
McGraw said she takes Mounjaro for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder that affects one in 10 American women of childbearing age, according to the US Office on Women’s Health.
It causes the ovaries to produce excessive amounts of the male sex hormone androgen due to cysts forming along the outer edges of the organ.
This leads to irregular menstrual cycles, abnormal hair growth, acne, obesity, thinning hair, and infertility.
Emily Simpson
Emily Simpson lost about seven pounds on Ozempic
Real Housewives of Orange County star Emily Simpson started taking Ozempic after a doctor suggested she may be prediabetic.
‘So I did. I did that in December,’ she said last year.
‘For one month and you know, that was a great kickstart for me.’
She said that Ozempic helped her kick habits like ‘grazing’ and ‘not really paying attention’ to what she was eating.
She lost about seven pounds on the drug but stopped taking it due to exhaustion.
‘I didn’t like the way it made me feel lethargic and it made me just not have a lot of energy, which was hard with three little kids, but it does make you feel full and it does make you, for me, it was like a refresh,’ she said.
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne, 71, has admitted that she ‘needed to put weight back on’ after losing a shocking 45lbs on Ozempic
Sharon Osbourne has also revealed she took Ozempic — but said she lost so many pounds on the drug that she ‘needed to put weight back on’.
The 71-year-old started taking the drug last December when she weighed 142lbs (64.4kg).
She shed more than 45lbs (20kg) on the medication, but then her weight fell down to 97lbs (43kg).
‘I can’t afford to lose anymore,’ she said.
‘My weight has stabilized. I went down to about 97lb (43kg) and it was like, “oh no!”. I needed to put some weight back on, which I have.’
She added while speaking to Women magazine: ‘You can lose so much weight and it’s easy to become addicted to that, which is very dangerous.
‘I couldn’t stop losing weight and now I’ve lost 42lbs — and I can’t afford to lose anymore.’
She added that when she first went on the drug she felt ‘very nauseous’ and was vomiting regularly. It took about two weeks for this to subside.
She urged people to keep the drug away from teenagers, saying it was just ‘too easy’ to become addicted.
Lauren Manzo
‘I’ve lost a lot of weight from being on that whole “Ozempic” thing,’ Manzo said
Lauren Manzo’s secret to her 30-pound weight loss is Mounjaro, she recently revealed.
Manzo, daughter of Real Housewives of New Jersey star Caroline Manzo, said that her weight has fluctuated for over a decade.
‘You guys have seen me struggle with [my weight] since I’m 20 years old, and it’s been really hard for me,’ she said during Page Six’s ‘Virtual Reali-Tea’ live podcast.
‘I’ve lost a lot of weight from being on that whole “Ozempic” thing.’
