Oprah Winfrey Speaks Out About Her Decision To Leave the Weightwatchers Board After Ten Years

Owing to her eagerly anticipated program on prescription weight loss drugs, Oprah Winfrey said that she has resigned from the WeightWatchers board after almost ten years. The media mogul said last week on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that she resigned before the release of her planned documentary on weight loss pills because she believed there would be a 'conflict of interest.' 

As reported by The Mirror, Winfrey said on the program, "I decided [to leave the WeightWatchers board] 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." After admirers conjectured about Winfrey's extraordinary weight reduction for months, the 70-year-old finally acknowledged in December that she had utilized prescription medicine to lose the weight. She did not say if she used Wegovy, Ozempic, or any other medication that changed her appetite. Winfrey has announced An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame, and the Weight Loss Revolution, an hour-long ABC primetime special. She gathered together medical professionals to discuss weight-loss medications during the program, which was recorded in front of a live studio audience.

She went on to explain why she had decided to take the unidentified medication and said, "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. I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself." When the veteran spokesperson was asked by Kimmel whether WeightWatchers wept when she announced her retirement, she said, "They almost did." She went on to explain, "You’ve seen me, you all have seen me, I’ve been in the struggle, I’ve been in the storm of losing the weight, gaining it back, losing the weight, gaining it back." Winfrey added, "After years of yo-yoing, my doctors explained that obesity is a disease and a spectrum."

For $106 million last year, WeightWatchers purchased Sequence, a telehealth subscription service that gives users access to medical professionals who may recommend medications for weight reduction like Ozempic. Winfrey is giving her WeightWatchers shares to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. According to the SEC filing, Winfrey informed Weight Watchers on February 26 that she would not be seeking reelection as a board member at the company's 2024 annual meeting of shareholders. As reported by Variety, Winfrey has around 1.1 million shares of WW International, signifying a 1.43% ownership position in the business. That would only be worth less than $3.5 million at the current stock price. Her original $43.2 million investment consisted of 6.4 million shares of the corporation.