To be honest I’m not Amy Schumer’s biggest fan. I’ve never loved her comedy. But one thing I respect her for? She’s up-front about things other celebrities would try to keep secret. She’s talked openly for years about her cosmetic treatments, including getting liposuction, and about getting fillers, then having them dissolved. It’s not that I think female celebrities should have to give us a complete breakdown of everything they had done–I just wish they’d be honest and say, yes, I’ve had cosmetic enhancements, I’ve had professional help. Because public curiosity about celebrities’ bodies can be pretty invasive. But when stars say they owe their taut, chiseled, un-wrinkled faces to olive oil or sweet potatoes, it’s just insulting our intelligence. People are too savvy for that nowadays. Amy is breaking the latest treatment taboo, and sharing about taking Ozempic, including the side effects. She was on Watch What Happens Live and she told Andy about her experience. She says she’s not on it anymore because of how it made her feel.
During an appearance on Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the comedian and actress, 42, said that she previously tried Ozempic, an FDA-approved prescription medication for people with type 2 diabetes.
It’s one of the brand names for semaglutide and tirzepatide — also known as Wegovy and Mounjaro — which works in the brain to impact satiety, and is the latest Hollywood weight loss trend.
“Like a year ago, I tried it,” she told Cohen, 55. “I was one of those people that felt so sick and couldn’t play with my son. I was so skinny and he’s throwing a ball at me and [I couldn’t].”
The most common side effects with medications like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are nausea and diarrhea, and sometimes it can cause vomiting or constipation, Ania Jastreboff, M.D., PhD., an obesity medicine physician scientist at Yale University, previously told PEOPLE.
Because of the side effects, Schumer decided the medication wasn’t for her. “And you’re like, ‘OK, this isn’t livable for me.’ But I immediately invested [in it] because I knew everyone was going to try it,” she added.
The Life & Beth star then shared her opinion on fellow celebrities “lying” about taking Ozempic for weight loss, noting her own transparency when it comes to her health journey and cosmetic procedures.
“Everyone has been lying saying, ‘Oh smaller portions.’ Like shut the f— up. You are on Ozempic or one of those things or you got work done. Just stop,” she said. “Be real with the people. When I got lipo, I said I got lipo.”
Major props to Amy for talking about this. I’m sure she’s always faced pressure to lose weight in her industry, and Ozempic seemed like something worth trying. The fact that it made her feel too weak and sick to play with her son casts it in a new light for me. If there weren’t a shortage of Ozempic that is making it hard for people who truly need it, and if it weren’t a thousand dollars a dose, I’d be tempted to take it, too. But between the side effects, the cost, and the ethical considerations, I think the negatives outweigh the positives. Amy’s story only makes me more sure of that. I also have pretty bad body dysmorphia and a decade-long history of problematic eating so I have no business thinking about weight loss drugs. All I’m saying is, I empathize with people who try to get their hands on this stuff when they don’t have a medical need for it. It’s ultimately about acceptance and belonging. That’s how it is for me, and how it sounds like it was for Amy. She knew everyone else would be taking it and didn’t want to be left out. If there were something that would make my body more “acceptable” in our society, and all it took was a weekly injection? Yeah, it’s tempting. I know that probably makes me seem mercenary and cynical. But when looking good is part of your job, as it is for celebrities, the pull must be even stronger.
What I worry about is how Ozmepic use in Hollywood is going to make the beauty standard even more restrictive and impossible for regular people to achieve. These are people whose job is to be beautiful. They already have every advantage and resource available, from personal trainers, chefs, plastic surgeons, aesthetic injectors, dermatologists, facialists. Hollywood men have access to steroids and human growth hormone, probably, as well as the other drugs bodybuilders have used for decades to lean out. They have the money, and the time, to make looking good a priority. Now they have one more arrow in their quiver that the rest of us can’t get. I like that Amy is calling other celebs out for lying, to be honest. It’s getting super old.
Photos credit: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon and via Instagram
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