Oprah Winfrey said she took on the “shame that the world gave to me” after 25 years of those “making fun of my weight”.
The US star addressed the myths surrounding obesity and the growing trend of weight management medication in a TV special titled An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame And The Weight Loss Revolution on the American network ABC.
The 70-year-old also said she made the decision to stop serving on the board of WeightWatchers because she did not want a “perceived conflict of interest” for the TV special, as well as donating “all of my shares at WeightWatchers to the Smithsonian museum of African American history and culture”.
Opening the TV special, Winfrey said: “In my lifetime, I never dreamed that we would be talking about medicine that is providing hope for people like me who have struggled for years with being overweight or obesity.
“So I come to this conversation in the hope that we can start releasing the stigma and the shame and the judgement to stop shaming other people for being overweight or how they choose to lose or not lose weight.
“And more importantly, to stop shaming ourselves.
“I have to say that I took on the shame that the world gave to me, for 25 years making fun of my weight was national sport.”
Winfrey said she will “never forget” when she saw herself on the cover of TV Guides best and worst dressed in 1990, where she was described as “bumpy, lumpy, and down right dumpy”.
“I was ridiculed on every late night talk show for 25 years, and tabloid covers, for 25 years,” she said.
Winfrey read out a number of article headlines written about her, including “Oprah: Fatter than ever”, and “Oprah warned ‘diet or die'”.
“In an effort to combat all the shame, I starved myself for nearly five months and then wheeled out that wagon of fat that the internet will never let me forget,” Winfrey said, referencing her 1988 talk-show appearance.
“And after losing 67 pounds on a liquid diet, the next day, the very next day, I started to gain it back.
“Feeling the shame of fighting a losing battle with weight, is a story all too familiar.”
Winfrey said since taking weight-loss treatment she still eats food but in smaller portions, and combines it with hiking or running three to five miles a day with healthy eating and weight resistance training.
“All these years I thought all of the people who never had to diet were just using their willpower and for some reason, stronger than me.
“And now I realise, y’all weren’t even thinking about the food. It’s not that you had the willpower, you weren’t obsessing over it, that’s the big thing I learned,” she said.
Winfrey became emotional when describing the medication as giving people a “sense of hope” as you “no longer blame yourself”.
“When I tell you how many times I have blamed myself because you think ‘I’m smart enough to figure this out’ and then to hear all along it’s you fighting your brain,” she said.
Winfrey ended the broadcast saying “lets stop the shaming and blaming, there is no place for it”.
