Oprah Winfrey says she was left feeling ’embarrassed and humiliated’ after being grilled about her weight during an interview with the late Joan Rivers.
Winfrey has enjoyed a hugely successful career as one of America’s best known talk show hosts, with her celebrity subjects ranging from Michael Jackson and Tom Cruise to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.
But she was on the receiving end while appearing on The Tonight Show in 1985, shortly after landing her first notable broadcasting job as the anchor of A.M Chicago.
With long-term host Johnny Carson absent during her appearance, presenting duties were temporarily handed to the acerbic Rivers – who wasted no time in asking Winfrey how she’d gained weight after previously winning a beauty contest in her youth.
‘You said it was fifty pounds!’ barked Rivers. ‘You shouldn’t let that happen to you, you’re very pretty. You’re a pretty girl, and you’re single – you must lose the weight!’
Reflecting on the exchange, Winfrey – who would win accolades for her starring role in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple later that year – admitted she left the studio feeling mortified.
Oprah Winfrey says she was left feeling ’embarrassed and humiliated’ after being grilled about her weight during a 1985 interview with the late Joan Rivers (pictured)
Winfrey was visibly stunned after Rivers questioned her weight during an appearance on The Tonight Show during her early years as a TV broadcaster
‘I was stunned in that moment,’ she told CBS Sunday Morning. ‘I’m sitting there, and we’re toward the end of the interview, and Joan turns to me and says, “So, tell me, you know, how’d you gain the weight?”
Winfrey recalled responding to the question by telling Rivers she ‘ate a lot’ – promoting an indignant but ultimately well-meaning reply from the host.
While she left the studio feeling ‘humiliated and embarrassed,’ Winfrey insisted she wasn’t angry because she believed Rivers was ‘right’ to make the enquiry.
The talk show mogul revealed in 2023 that she started taking a GLP-1 agonist, a class of drugs that includes Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy, as a ‘maintenance tool’ for her weight, along with diet and exercise changes.
Winfrey never revealed which GLP-1 she used, but has credited the drug for losing at least 40 pounds since starting the weekly jabs, because it calms her ‘food noise, or constant, intrusive thoughts about eating.’
She revealed that since taking a GLP-1, she has also stopped drinking alcohol, making her one of 46 percent of Americans who claim they don’t imbibe.
Research shows Ozempic and similar drugs dampen the brain’s reward centers that release feel-good chemical dopamine. Blocking these reward pathways has been shown to lower cravings for alcohol.
The medications also inspired her to work out almost every day, while giving her a more positive outlook about food and her weight.
With host Johnny Carson absent, presenting duties were temporarily handed to the acerbic Rivers – who wasted no time in asking Winfrey how she’d gained weight
Winfrey’s weight has fluctuated throughout her adult life, with the presenter now at her slimmest as a result of using weight loss jabs
Rivers passed away in 2014, aged 81, while hospitalised in New York City
‘I’m not constantly punishing myself,’ she told People in 2023. ‘I hardly recognize the woman I’ve become. But she’s a happy woman.’
She added: ‘I thought [weight loss] was about discipline and willpower. But I stopped blaming myself. I feel more alive and more vibrant than I’ve ever been.’
‘But despite the improvements, she briefly regained some of the weight she had lost after taking a break from the drugs, which showed her GLP-1 medications ‘are a lifetime thing.’
Winfrey’s GLP-1 use comes after decades of weight fluctuations and fad diets, including liquid diets, starving herself for multiple days and cutting her calories to just 1,200 per day, 40 percent less than the federally recommended 2,000 per day.
In 1992, her weight had reached 237lbs, the highest it had ever been. She has stated her goal is 160lbs but has not revealed what her current weight is.
Winfrey said: ‘Whatever was happening needed to happen to get me to this point. And I rejoice at feeling liberated from the struggle because I had a real public struggle.
‘And I am healthier now.’
