Oprah Winfrey opens up about exiting Weight Watchers after using weight loss drug

Oprah Winfrey is opening up about quitting the Weight Watchers board.

Last month, Winfrey departed the company's board of directors after disclosing her use of weight loss medication in 2023.

On "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Thursday, Winfrey said she did not want "any conflict of interest" amid her new ABC special, "An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution," airing Monday night.

"I decided that because this special was really important to me and I wanted to be able to talk about whatever I wanted to talk about, and Weight Watchers is now in the business of being a weight health company that also administers drug medications for weight," she told Jimmy Kimmel, referencing Weight Watchers' March decision to add weight loss drugs like Wegovy to its program.

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She explained her decision to resign and donate her Weight Watchers shares to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

"So nobody can say, 'Oh, she's doing that special, she's making money, promoting.' No, you cannot say that," Winfrey added.

When Kimmel asked if Weight Watchers staffers cried when she exited the board, Winfrey laughed: "They almost did."

Oprah Winfrey exits Weight Watchers, calls weight health 'critically important'

Winfrey's comments on "Live!" echo earlier statements she made in a March press release shared via the company's corporate website, stating she wanted "to eliminate any perceived conflict of interest around her taking weight loss medications."

"I look forward to continuing to advise and collaborate with Weight Watchers and CEO Sima Sistani in elevating the conversation around recognizing obesity as a chronic condition, working to reduce stigma, and advocating for health equity," the media mogul said.

Winfrey also said weight health is a "a critically important topic and one that needs to be addressed at a broader scale" in the statement.

Previously, Winfrey addressed her personal journey with weight loss during her "The State of Weight" panel conversation as part of Oprah Daily's "The Life You Want" series in September.

"This is a world that has shamed people for being overweight forever, and all of us who have lived it know that people treat you differently, they just do," Winfrey said. "And I'm Oprah Winfrey, and I know all that comes with that, but I get treated differently if I'm 200-plus pounds versus under 200 pounds.

"I don't know that there is another public person whose weight struggles have been exploited as much as mine," Winfrey said.

Contributing: Naledi Ushe, Pamela Avila