Oprah Winfrey Admits People Treated Her 'Differently' When She Weighed Over 200 Pounds

Oprah Winfrey was candid about her struggle to lose weight throughout her life when the talk show host spoke on a panel for Oprah Daily’s "The Life You Want Class: The State of Weight," where she discussed meal plans, Ozempic and more.

Winfrey admitted that her body was heavily critiqued and commented on throughout her career.

"You all know I’ve been on this journey for most of my life. My highest weight was 237 pounds. I don’t know if there is another public person whose weight struggle has been exploited as much as mine over the years," she shared.

"You all have watched me diet and diet and diet," she continued, before noting that it's "a recurring thing because my body always seems to want to go back to a certain weight."

Winfrey told the crowd about the mistreatment she received when shopping because clothing was rarely in her size.

"And all of us who’ve lived it know that people treat you differently, they just do," she stated.

"It’s that thing where people are like, 'Let me show you the gloves. Would you like to look at the handbags? Because we know that there’s nothing in here for you,'" she added. "There is a condescension. There is stigma."

The mogul embraced shedding 40 pounds, but she hoped viewers would gain a level of confidence in their own skin — no matter what the number on the scale read.

"Shouldn't we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice,” The Colour Purple star said. “Even when I first started hearing about the weight loss drugs, at the same time I was going through knee surgery, and I felt, 'I've got to do this on my own.' Because if I take the drug, that's the easy way out.'"

The producer shared that she was “shamed in the tabloids every week about for 25 years” for “not having the willpower” to become thinner.

Although Winfrey didn't use semaglutide to help on her journey, brands of the prescription have evolved into household names due to their popularity in Hollywood. OK! previously reported Sharon Osbourne used the medication to lose over 40 pounds, but she's ready to get off of Ozempic after becoming smaller than she intended.

"Ozzy's having a go at me because he says I look like Mrs. Reagan. He calls me Nancy Reagan all the time!" she quipped in Piers Morgan interview.

"It’s just time to stop, I didn’t actually want to go this thin but it just happened," she admitted. "I’ll probably put it all on again soon!"

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The former The Talk host later claimed that the drug could be harmful to people's mental state.

“You don’t throw up physically, but you’ve got that feeling, and I was about two, three weeks where I felt nauseous the whole time. You get very thirsty, and you don’t want to eat. That’s it,” Sharon explained.

"That’s why I keep saying, you’ve got to keep this stuff away from younger people because they will go berserk on it, and it’s not right," she concluded.