Oprah Winfrey stepped down from the board of directors of WW so she could focus on making a TV special about weight loss medications.
The TV titan recently confirmed plans to make her first primetime special in three years, which she agreed to because of the “very personal” subject matter. She has now revealed she had to step away from her role with the diet company previously known as WeightWatchers to avoid 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 wanted to talk about, and Weight Watchers 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 explained during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“So I resigned from the board and donated all of my shares to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. So nobody can say, ‘Oh, she’s doing that special, she’s making money, promoting.’ No, you cannot say that,” she added.
Winfrey started losing weight after undergoing knee surgery in 2021. She later admitted she used a weight loss drug, but she insisted it was only to help her maintain her figure and avoid “yo-yoing.”
The broadcasting mogul will sit down with medical experts and patients to explore the “radical impact” of prescription diet medications such as Mounjaro and Wegovy in ABC’s “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution.”
“It is a very personal topic for me and for the hundreds of millions of people impacted around the globe who have for years struggled with weight and obesity. This special will bring together medical experts m[and] leaders in the space and people in the day-to-day struggle to talk about health equity and obesity with the intention to ultimately release the shame, judgment and stigma surrounding weight,” Winfrey said in a statement announcing the project.
