Oprah Winfrey resigned from the WeightWatchers board to avoid any conflicts of interest before her upcoming ABC special on weight loss and obesity.
She had served on the board for nearly a decade but stepped down as WeightWatchers expanded into medication administration.
“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,” Winfrey said. “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.”
Winfrey wanted to be able to openly discuss weight issues without concerns about profiting from her special.
She donated her shares to a museum.
“So nobody can say ‘Oh, she’s doing that special, she’s making money, promoting [it],’ no, you cannot say that,” she said.
“I realized I’d been blaming myself all these years for being overweight, and I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control. Obesity is a disease. It’s not about willpower – it’s about the brain,” she said previously.
“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,” Winfrey said. “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
Winfrey said, “I look forward to continuing to advise and collaborate with WeightWatchers and CEO Sima Sistani in elevating the conversation around recognizing obesity as a chronic condition, working to reduce stigma, and advocating for health equity.”
Winfrey has struggled with weight loss and gain for years.
“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 said.
“You can see that my ego is on flamboyant display,” she said. “I’ve had to pay the price for that moment over and over. I literally handed to the world on a fat wagon platter the story of ‘Is she fat? Is she thin?’”
“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.”
“But I realized when I listened to what the doctor said, [which was] ‘You’re always going to put it back on and it’s like holding your breath under water and trying to not rise, you’re always going to rise.’”
After knee surgery, she began using prescription medication under doctor’s advice that her weight issues were due to an underlying disease rather than a personal failing.
Her special aims to reduce stigma around obesity and promote viewing it as a chronic health condition.
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