Kelly Clarkson Addresses Ozempic Rumors, Mocks Her Former Appearance

Elyse Wanshel
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Kelly Clarkson is opening up about her weight loss — and about the negativity she’s felt in her own skin.

During Monday’s episode of “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” the host welcomed Whoopi Goldberg, who said in March that she lost weight by taking Mounjaro — an injectable drug in the same class as Ozempic that’s also used to manage blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.

Clarkson opened up her interview with Goldberg by immediately commenting on her appearance, remarking that she looks “younger” lately.

“First of all, it’s all the weight I’ve lost. … I’ve lost almost two people,” Goldberg replied. “I’m doing that wonderful shot that works for folks who need some help, and it’s been really good for me.” 

Clarkson then noted she has also lost “a lot” of weight recently, and attributed some of it to using an unnamed drug. 

“Mine is a different one than people assume, but I ended up having to do that too because my bloodwork got so bad,” Clarkson said.

Clarkson later clarified in her interview with Goldberg: “Everybody thinks it’s Ozempic, but it’s not.”

Whoopi Goldberg and Kelly Clarkson on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” on Monday.
Whoopi Goldberg and Kelly Clarkson on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” on Monday. NBC via Getty Images

Although Clarkson never specified what drug she takes, she explained that her prescription medication is “something that aids in helping break down the sugar” in her blood because her body “doesn’t do it right” on its own.

The “Stronger” singer revealed on her talk show in January that she lost weight after she was diagnosed as prediabetic.

Clarkson said when she was bigger she “didn’t see” her weight as an issue. But the conversation took a much more negative turn when she described a revelation she hadin April 2023 while rewatching her 41st birthday performance at The Belasco. 

“I was watching it, we were in my house in New York… and then all of a sudden, I paused it, and I was like, ‘Who the fuck is that?’” Clarkson said, recalling that she thought she looked like she was “about to die of a heart attack.”

Goldberg responded by describing similar feelings she’s had about her own body. 

“I made a movie and a woman thought I was wearing a fat suit,” Goldberg said, of her role as Alma Carthan in 2022’s “Till.”

″She said, ‘That movie was good, but that fat suit was awful,’” Goldberg recalled of the unnamed fan. “And I was indignant, I was like, ‘This is not a fat suit, this is me!’ And then I saw me … and I thought, ’Well, yeah, it does look like I’m wearing a fat [suit].”

“It’s kind of incredible though,” Clarkson said. “I never saw [myself as fat]. I was never insecure about it, I was happy … and people were like, ‘Oh, she must’ve not been happy.’ I was like, ‘Nah, I was happy! I just did not see that.’”

Goldberg agreed that she felt the same way, and made fun of how oblivious she was about her body before taking Mounjaro.

“I rolled over and thought, ‘Oh, wow, did I just press my own pants?’” Goldberg joked about her prior size. “Because I was 300 lbs.”

“My heaviest I was, like, 203. And I’m 5’3 and a half,” Clarkson said. Then the singer took a long pause, looked at her audience in a gesture of disbelief and sang out the word: “Why?”

Clarkson and Goldberg’s bashing of their former bodies is pretty typical of people who have recently lost weight. But the fatphobic stigma that larger-bodied people encounter can damage their health.

A 2018 review in the Journal of Advanced Nursing found that experiencing weight stigma increased a person’s risk of diabetes, eating disturbances, depression, anxiety and body dissatisfaction. It was also linked to an increase in chronic stress and chronic inflammation, and a decrease in self-esteem.

If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for support.

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