Oprah Winfrey is reflecting on how her weight has been the topic of national conversation for decades.
During a candid conversation on the first episode of The Jamie Kern Lima Show shared on Tuesday, Winfrey spoke about how mocking her for her size was an “accepted” form of ridicule.
“For 25 years, every single week in one form or another, there was some tabloid exploitation of my weight,” she said, adding that “making fun of my weight was national sport for 25 years.”
“Comedians did it, the best comedians did it, the highest comedians did it, people with their shows did it ― it was just accepted that you could make fun of me and my weight,” she said before listing off some of the things people had done that had stuck with her to this day.
“One of the most hurtful things was In Living Colour had done a skit where the woman was doing something and she just kept eating and getting fatter and fatter and fatter,” Winfrey explained. “And the comedy bit was that eventually she just exploded, and you know, the whole audience fell out [laughing]. And the woman was me.”
“And that was just accepted! That was just a thing that was accepted,” Winfrey said. “So I have borne this weight thing and carried it to the point where I just feel like, I’ve just recently turned 70 and I’m not carrying it into the next decade. I’m done with it.”
Many celebrities who have long been in the public eye are opening up about what it was like to be scrutinized during a more lawless time in media.
Victoria Beckham has shared how being judged for her postpartum weight left her not wanting to go outside, for fear of what tabloids would say.
“I remember after I had Brooklyn, my first outing was on the front page of the newspaper, with arrows pointing to where I needed to lose weight,” she shared in an interview with Grazia last month.
The former Spice Girl said things didn’t get much better after she’d lost the weight she gained during pregnancy. During an appearance on the show Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, host Chris Evans made Beckham do a particularly gross stunt on TV.
“I’d just had Brooklyn and lost a lot of weight after,” the singer told Vogue Australia in 2022. “It happened to my mum after her pregnancies. It doesn’t mean you have an eating disorder. And he made me stand on scales and be weighed. Can you imagine doing that nowadays?”
Help and support:
- Beat, Adult Helpline: 0808 801 0677 and Youthline: 0808 801 0711 or email help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk (adults) fyp@beateatingdisorders.org.uk (youth support)
Samaritans, open 24 hours a day, on 116 123
Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393