Tracy Morgan jokes he ‘out-ate’ Ozempic after gaining 40 pounds on weight loss drug

Tracy Morgan has revealed he gained weight while taking prescription weight loss medication Ozempic.

The comedian, 55, recently appeared on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he credited the Type 2 diabetes drug for his new appearance. When host Jimmy Fallon told the 30 Rock actor that he looked good and asked how he was staying in shape, Morgan simply replied: “Well, that’s Ozempic.”

However, it seemed that the popular weight loss side effects of taking the drug didn’t work on Morgan. “Yeah, but I’ve learned to out-eat Ozempic,” he told the audience. “I gained 40 pounds.”

Ozempic - which is the brand name for semaglutide - is a once-weekly injection that works by mimicking a hormone to regulate appetite and create the feeling of fullness. The FDA-approved medication has become widely popular for its “off-label” weight loss side effects, as celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Kelly Osbourne have admitted to taking prescription weight loss drugs.

The Saturday Night Live alum first announced he was taking Ozempic during an episode of Today with Hoda & Jenna last August. Morgan confirmed he uses the semaglutide injection after hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager complemented his appearance.

“I went and got a prescription and I got Ozempic, and I ain’t letting it go,” Morgan jokingly said. As he mimicked how he takes the injection in his stomach, the comedian noted: “I take Ozempic every Thursday.”

“It cuts my appetite in half. Now I only eat half a bag of Doritos,” he added.

Most recently, Winfrey became the latest celebrity to admit taking weight loss medication. The 70-year-old media mogul revealed in December she was using an unnamed prescription drug as a tool to help her manage her weight. She later stepped down from her position on the board of WeightWatchers after nearly a decade due to her ABC special about prescription weight loss medications.

In addition to Ozempic, prescription medications like Wegovy and Mounjaro have also risen in popularity for their weight loss side effects. Wegovy is another semaglutide injection specifically approved for the treatment of obesity and weight loss, while Mounjaro is the first diabetes drug to target a second hormone, GIP.

Despite Ozempic’s weight loss side effects, some patients have reported gaining “double the weight back” after they stopped taking the medication. Influencer and TikTok star Remi Bader previously revealed on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast that she was prescribed Ozempic by her doctor in 2020 for her pre-diabetic, insulin resistance, and weight gain issues.

However, the Victoria’s Secret ambassador admitted that she had mixed feelings about Ozempic, considering her binge eating worsened once she stopped taking the once-weekly injection. “My binging got so much worse, so then I kind of blamed Ozempic,” Bader said. “I gained double the weight back after.”

According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the most common side effects of taking weight loss medication includes nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, headache, fatigue, indigestion, dizziness, and digestive disorders.

The FDA has also warned about more serious complications that can occur from use of the Wegovy or Mounjaro, such as the “potential risk of thyroid C-cell tumours,” pancreatitis, gallbladder problems, acute kidney injury, increased heart rate, and suicidal behaviour or thinking.

Taking Ozempic can also lead to possible thyroid tumours, including cancer, pancreatitis, changes in vision, and kidney and gallbladder problems.