Ozempic, the miracle weight loss injection, has taken the world by storm, allowing users to suppress their appetite and shed the pounds quickly.
No wonder, then, that every time a celebrity suddenly – and dramatically – looks thinner, it is immediately assumed that they have used Ozempic.
Melissa McCarthy in 2014 and, right, the Bridesmaids star this year
When Bridesmaids star Melissa McCarthy uploaded a photo to her Instagram page looking as slim as she has been in years, many of her 13 million followers must have wondered if Ozempic (also manufactured under the Wegovy brand) was responsible .
But it was only superstar singer Barbra Streisand, 82, who came out and asked her. “Have you taken Ozempic?” she wrote in response to the photo. She was immediately arrested by McCarthy’s followers who accused her of being rude and insensitive.
McCarthy, 53, has spoken about her struggles with her weight and revealed that major designers have refused to dress her for red carpet events.
When it came to Streisand’s Ozempic question, the actress said she was flattered to even be noticed by the superstar… but deleted the photo and twisted the question.
So while some, like Melissa McCarthy, keep us guessing which Hollywood celebrities do admit to using the weight loss shots…
Rebel Wilson
Australian actress Rebel Wilson – pictured in 2018, left and 2022 – lost 80 pounds in four years to reach her target weight of 165 pounds (11st 8 pounds)
The Australian actress lost 80 pounds in four years and reached her goal weight of 165 pounds (11st 8 pounds). She got rid of most of the excess in 2020, calling it her “year of health” and crediting it to healthy eating and exercise.
However, while promoting her memoir, Rebel Rising, she admitted to using Ozempic. The Pitch Perfect star, 44, says she took the drug shortly after losing weight to maintain her new shape.
She told The Sunday Times: ‘Someone like me can have a bottomless appetite for sweets, so I think those drugs could be good.’
Wilson says she has since gained 20 pounds due to the stress surrounding the release of her controversial book.
Amy Schumer
Amy Schumer admitted to using Ozempic in June 2023, but stopped because of the side effects. She looked thinner at an event earlier this year than when she was pictured in 2019
Comedian Schumer has criticized celebrities for not being honest about getting so-called skinny shots.
During an interview in June 2023, the 42-year-old admitted that he had used it the year before but stopped due to the side effects.
“I was one of those people who felt so sick,” she said.
She joked that she became “so skinny” that she no longer had the energy to play with her five-year-old son.
Schumer, who has also admitted to undergoing liposuction – a cosmetic procedure that removes unwanted body fat – said it is an open secret in Hollywood that Ozempic is widely used and that many stars lie about how they lost weight.
“Everyone’s like, ‘smaller portions,’” she joked. ‘Shut your mouth. You’re on Ozempic or something like that.’
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey in 2018 and, yes, in January. In December she admitted she was taking ‘weight loss drugs’ and has now reached her goal of 160lbs (11st 4lbs)
The talk show host, 70, recently said that laughing about her weight has become a national pastime in America.
On her show Shame, Blame And The Weight Loss Revolution, she said: ‘I was ridiculed on every late night talk show for 25 years and on tabloid covers for 25 years.’
She admitted to trying fad diets, including a liquid-only diet, which resulted in a loss of 67 pounds (which she quickly regained). In December, Winfrey – who left her job as an ambassador for WeightWatchers – admitted to taking “weight loss drugs”, telling People magazine: “The fact that there is a medically approved prescription to maintain my weight and be healthier over my lifetime staying feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and be ridiculed again. I’m done shaming you.’
She has now reached her goal of 160 pounds (11st 4 pounds).
Elon Musk
Elon Musk boasted to his followers that he lost 30 pounds in November 2022. The billionaire looked significantly slimmer in the photo this year than during his holiday in Mykonos in 2022, left
In November 2022, the billionaire took to Twitter (the social media platform he had just bought for £35 billion and renamed X) to brag to his 182 million followers that he had lost 30 pounds. When asked what his secret was to looking so ‘fit, ripped and healthy’, the then 50-year-old replied: ‘Fasting + Ozempic/Wegovy + no good food near me.’
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne lost 42 pounds thanks to Ozempic. Viewers of this year’s Celebrity Big Brother were shocked by her frail appearance compared to her figure in 2018, left
When she appeared on this year’s Celebrity Big Brother, viewers were shocked by her petite appearance.
A rarity among celebrities, Osbourne is refreshingly honest about her weight loss battles.
After trying a gastric band, the 71-year-old admitted her tiny seven-stone frame is thanks to Ozempic.
She told the Mail: ‘Last December I resorted to injecting myself with Ozempic… I lost 22 pounds – that’s the third – but it was too much. Now I weigh a little more than 7st. I need to gain 5 kilos, but no matter how much I eat, I stay the same weight.’
Stephen Fry
Comedian Stephen Fry dropped five stone by taking Ozempic and looked much thinner in 2019 than in 2018
The comedian dropped five stone by taking the drug, but eventually stopped because he said it made him so unwell he was vomiting up to five times a day.
Describing himself as ‘an early adopter’, the 66-year-old said: ‘For the first week or so I thought, “This is amazing. Not only do I not want to eat, I also don’t want any form of alcohol. This is brilliant.” But then he felt ‘sicker and sicker’ and stopped taking it completely.
Robbie Williams
While promoting his Netflix series, Robbie Williams said his current physique was due to taking ‘something like Ozempic’
Cruelly dubbed ‘the fat dancer from Take That’ by Noel Gallagher, Williams has struggled with his weight since he was a teenager.
While promoting his Netflix series, the 50-year-old said his current ripped physique was due to taking “something like Ozempic.” He said he suffered from “type 2 self-loathing” and called the injections “a Christmas miracle.”
Despite this, Williams remains an ambassador for WeightWatchers.