Oprah Winfrey She took the stage for her new TV special about weight loss and told how she had been the victim of public shaming and humiliation for decades.
The media mogul addressed a live studio audience at the new TV event. Oprah Special: Shame, Blame, and the Weight Loss RevolutionThe show, which aired on Monday night, began with a sobering and powerful reflection on her own weight loss journey. The highs and lows of that journey have been fodder for tabloids and comedians for years.
“I took on the shame that the world gave me,” Winfrey said on Monday’s show. “For 25 years, mocking my weight was a national sport.”
Winfrey recalled one particularly painful day in 1990 when she saw herself on the cover of a magazine. tv guideMagazine's “Best and Worst Dressed” list.
“At first I remember thinking, ‘Oh, look! I’m on the cover.’ And then I read a headline saying that Mr. Blackwell, who was a trendsetter at the time, had called me ‘lumpy, lumpy and downright stupid.’ “,” Winfrey recalled. “I’ve been ridiculed on every late-night talk show for 25 years, on the covers of tabloids for 25 years.”
Winfrey then read some of the scathing, harmful and downright cruel tabloid headlines of the past two decades that mocked her weight, speculated about her health and outright insulted her appearance.
The harmful spotlight on her weight led her to become obsessed with her weight and do extreme and unhealthy things to lose it.
“To combat all the shame, I starved myself for almost five months and drove a fat wagon that will never be forgotten on the Internet,” Winfrey said, recalling a particularly infamous episode of her talk show. “And after losing 67 pounds on a liquid diet, the next day you the very next dayI’m starting to get it back.”
The special itself included interviews with several medical experts and people who have struggled with weight issues for years in an effort to combat the stigma surrounding the increased use of weight loss drugs.
Winfrey, 70, ahead of Monday's special. We spoke with ET last weekend at the 55th NAACP Image Awards.We talked about an upcoming TV special.
“I’m so excited for this show about shame, blame and the weight loss revolution,” Winfrey said. “You know, I'm very happy because I've given so many years to this business and I've been ashamed of myself. And I want people to be liberated, and I want to know that for the millions of people in this country who are suffering from the disease. Weight and obesity, it's really “It’s not your fault, it’s your brain.”
“So once you know that, you can get help to help you manage it. It doesn’t matter what choice you make,” Winfrey added. “So I don’t want people to be blamed for the choices they make about their health.”
“We had to break it down,” Winfrey told ET about getting medical experts involved in the conversation about the drug. “They've been taking these drugs for 20 years. I didn't know that. They've been taking these drugs for 20 years and we're just now hearing about them.”
Special feature coming soon Winfrey resigned from Weight Watchers. She recently revealed what she's up to and has been on the board for 10 years. weight loss drug use — This had an incredible impact on her own health and figure.
“I’m really excited,” Winfrey said of the availability of medications designed to treat obesity and promote weight loss. “Because I’ve suffered too long, tried too hard, done everything.”
Oprah Special: Shame, Blame, and the Weight Loss Revolution It aired on ABC on March 18 and will be available on Hulu the following day.
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