Oprah is parting ways with WeightWatchers after nearly 10 years. The decision followed criticism of her for proudly revealing that she was using weight loss drugs.
The weight loss company made it clear in an official statement Wednesday that it had no ill will toward Oprah Winfrey. Her departure from her board of directors was not due to differences of opinion with her company or any issues related to her company's operations, policies or anything else. practices.
CEO of WW Sima Sistani “While I and the rest of the board will certainly miss her on the board after the end of her current term, she remains a strong strategic voice and ally for WeightWatchers,” he says.
That said, Oprah Winfrey's departure comes just months after she confessed to using weight loss drugs last December. This admission raised her eyebrows, especially since she had voiced her opposition to drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro a few months earlier.
As we reported… Oprah Winfrey revealed her lost 40 pounds In 2023, some of her strategies involved medications prescribed by doctors. But she never revealed the name of the drug.
Some people, especially fitness professionals Jillian Michaels, Mr. O criticized WeightWatchers for not being transparent about its investments in popular weight loss drugs. Speculation suggests that Oprah could profit greatly by advocating the use of such drugs.
Oprah is actually directly addressing these criticisms when she leaves the company. WW said it would donate a 1.4% stake in WW to the National Museum of African American History and Culture “to eliminate any conflicts of interest associated with taking weight-loss drugs.”
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But… the announcement that she is leaving WW is hurting the company's stock. The stock plunged more than 20% shortly after the news broke Thursday morning.
The bottom line for Wall Street… losing Oprah is never a good thing for any organization. But Oprah's bottom line is that she's in the best place in terms of her health, both physically and mentally, as she's lost her weight.
We covered it all in the latest episode. TMZ PodcastAvailable on all podcast platforms.