One word was on plenty of people’s lips in 2024 - and its reign appears to be continuing into 2025. No, it’s not ‘brat’, ‘demure’, or even ‘brain rot’; it’s Ozempic.
The drug has become increasingly popular for helping people (including your favourite celebrities) lose weight - despite the fact that, like rival brands Wegovy and Mounjaro, it’s licensed to treat type 2 diabetes.
Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro mimic a hormone that regulates appetite. This tricks the brain into thinking the body is full, leading to reduced food intake and weight loss.
Numerous stars, both in Hollywood and the UK, are rumoured to have turned to the injections to shed a few pounds, and some have even publicly discussed using the drugs.
From Donald Trump’s BFF Elon Musk to a Gavin and Stacey star, here are the famous faces who have discussed using weight-loss jabs…
Elon Musk
Soon-to-be White House adviser Musk revealed he had used Ozempic and Mounjaro to lose weight in posts on X (formerly Twitter).
On Boxing Day, the Tesla CEO posted a picture of himself dressed as Father Christmas with the caption: “Ozempic Santa”.
Ozempic Santa pic.twitter.com/7YECSNpWoz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2024
In another post, he added: “Technically, Mounjaro, but that doesn’t have the same ring to it.”
Oprah Winfrey
While talk show queen Oprah Winfrey has declined to name the brand she uses, she’s among the Hollywood stars who have been most vocal about using weight-loss drugs. She credits them with helping her to stop feeling “shameful” about her weight.
Winfrey told People magazine last year: “I had an awareness of [weight-loss] medications, but felt I had to prove I had the willpower to do it. I now no longer feel that way.
"I realised 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."
"I now use [the drug] as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing," she added.
James Corden
Gavin and Stacey star James Corden candidly discussed using Ozempic on his radio show — but quit after “it didn’t really work”.
He said on Sirius XM: “I tried it for a bit and then what I realised was I was like ‘Oh no, nothing about my eating has anything to do with being hungry’.
“All it does is make you feel not hungry. But I am very rarely eating [just because I’m hungry]”.
Amy Schumer
American actress Amy Schumer is another celebrity who tried Ozempic but ditched it due to the side effects.
"I was one of the people that felt sick, I couldn't play with my son,” she said during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
Rebel Wilson
Australian actress Rebel Wilson has spoken about overhauling her health in the past few years, losing 80 pounds in four years.
Wilson revealed in April that she had used Ozempic to help lose weight, telling the Sunday Times: “Someone like me could have a bottomless appetite for sweets, so I think those drugs can be good.”
The actress, who got married this year, added she no longer used the drug.
Sharon Osbourne
During her decades in the spotlight, Sharon Osbourne has frequently been open about her weight struggles.
In an appearance on Piers Morgan’s podcast last year, the former X Factor judge said she had lost 42 pounds while on Ozempic.
“I didn’t actually want to go this thin, but it just happened and I’ll probably put it all on again soon,” she said.
Explaining how the side effects impacted her, she continued: “You don’t throw up physically but you’ve got that feeling.
“I was about two, three weeks where I felt nauseous the whole time. You get very thirsty and you don’t want to eat. That’s it.”
Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry is yet another star who has highlighted the downsides of Ozempic.
In March, the actor and comedian said he got the injections from a doctor in the US “years ago”.
Fry said on the River Cafe Table 4 podcast that his doctor “tried me on it and [for] the first week or so I was thinking, 'this is astonishing. Not only do I not want to eat, I don't want any alcohol of any kind. This is going to be brilliant'.”
"Then I started feeling sick, and I started feeling sicker and sicker and sicker,” he continued. “I was literally throwing up four, five times a day and I thought, 'I can't do this'. So that's it."
Kathy Bates
In October, actress Kathy Bates confirmed that she used Ozempic to lose weight.
She told People magazine: “There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic. But I have to impress upon people out there that this was hard work for me, especially during the pandemic. It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough.”
The star began her weight loss journey after she was diagnosed with type two diabetes in 2017.
“I ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem,” she said.
Bates added: “Diabetes runs in my family, and I'd seen what my father had gone through. He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight.”
