This summer, Oprah Winfrey has been recovering after an unfortunate health scare sent her to the emergency room in mid-June.
Notably absent from her usual spot on CBS Mornings where she announces her latest book club selection, the ever-determined Winfrey had her best friend, Gayle King, stepping in as her replacement.
However, King may have revealed more than she intended, sparking a wave of concern from fans after sharing that Winfrey had ”stuff coming out of both ends.”
This comment fueled online speculation that the beloved talk show host’s condition could be related to weight loss drugs.
Keep reading to find out what really happened to Oprah Winfrey!
Oprah Winfrey’s journey with weight management has been a highly public topic since she first appeared as the host of her own talk show in 1986.
“It was public sport to make fun of me for 25 years,” the host of the Oprah Winfrey Show told People in 2023. “I have been blamed and shamed, and I blamed and shamed myself.”
After decades of exercise and diets, all that failed in allowing her to maintain a comfortable weight, Winfrey, 70, confessed in December 2023 that she was on a weight loss medication.
“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,” said the former talk show host, who’s been married to Stedman Graham since 1985. “I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
While she did not disclose which specific medication she was using, it’s known that Winfrey has been taking a prescription — possibly Ozempic or Wegovy, which are often prescribed to treat type 2 diabetes—that works on the brain to curb satiety.
According to the Mayo Clinic, it “may cause some unwanted effects,” like blurred vision, nausea, bleeding or more commonly, diarrhea.
Stomach problems
Only a few months after admitting to using weight loss drugs, like the diabetes medicine that’s now a Hollywood fad, the star of the 1985 film The Color Purple was hospitalized.
According to Gayle King, 69, her best friend had a stomach problem where “stuff was coming out of both ends.”
“I won’t get too graphic,” she adds after revealing the grim details.
King made the candid confession on CBS Mornings when she stepped in for her philanthropic pal, announcing Winfrey’s latest book club selection.
What happened to Oprah Winfrey
“Needless to say, she ended up in the hospital. Dehydration, she had an IV, so it was a very serious thing. She will be OK. She will be OK. I hope she’s not mad at me for sharing that detail, but I wanted to make it clear that it mattered to her, and it bothered her that she couldn’t be here for you today.”
Trying to put an end to surmounting speculation that the weight loss drugs triggered Winfrey’s condition, a close friend – who chose not to be named – told the LA Times that her illness has “no relation to weight loss medications.”
‘Serious side effects’
Meanwhile, fans have a lot to say about the businesswoman’s using a weight loss drug, many who say it’s Ozempic.
One online user writes, “With friends like Gayle blabbing your business, who needs enemies? My guess is…oh oh Ozempic.”
A second shares, “Ozempic does have serious side effects if you’re not using it for what it is meant to be used for, diabetes.”
“That’s Ozempic for ya, it’s what happens when the devil comes for his part of the deal,” offers a third.
Meanwhile, another defends Winfrey, reminding the online audience that stomach problems aren’t only related to weight loss medication.
“Loads of people had stomach issues that left them with stuff coming out. Both ends well before Ozempic…Most of us have had it at least once,” the user writes.
Oprah’s own words
Just a few days later, Oprah spoke out herself, revealing what really happened during those turbulent days in June.
”I was in the emergency room, I was so dehydrated. I had a dry mouth and I couldn’t keep enough water down to get hydrated, so I went to the emergency room for that, and that’s just it,” she said while she was on FaceTime with Gayle King.
Oprah Winfrey also revealed that she was ”too weak to get on the plane” for her much-anticipated book club appearance.
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