Oprah Winfrey apologized for the part she played in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
While speaking on Thursday's WeightWatchers “Making the Shift" livestream, Oprah admitted she'd been a "major" contributor to diet culture with the constant emphasis she placed on weight loss.
"I've been a steadfast participant in this diet culture," Oprah said. "Through my platforms, through the magazine, through the talk show for 25 years and online."
"I’ve been a major contributor to it," she continued. "I cannot tell you how many weight loss shows and makeovers I have done, and they have been a staple since I’ve been working in television."
Oprah said one of her “biggest regrets," specifically, is a 1998 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show where she brought out 67 pounds of animal fat onstage to show what it looked like after she'd recently lost the same amount of weight.
“It sent a message that starving yourself with a liquid diet set a standard for people watching that I, nor anybody else, could uphold,” she recalled. “The very next day, I began to gain the weight back. Maya Angelou always said, ‘When you know better, you do better,’ so these conversations for me are an effort to do better.”
Oprah previously told People that her regimen now includes, among other things, regular workouts and weight-loss medication, though she didn't share which one.
Here's what people thought of her latest comments:
You can watch the full discussion, which featured guest appearances by Rebel Wilson, Amber Riley, and others, here.
