It’s no secret that Oprah Winfrey has struggled with her weight in the spotlight for decades. But on the June 25 episode of “The Jamie Kern Lima Show” podcast, the Queen of Media opened up like never before about her very public battle and the incredible “aha” moment she had in 2023.
During their emotional discussion, Winfrey admitted to the IT Cosmetics co-founder that although she’s had plenty of conversations about weight in 25 seasons hosting “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” something about the exchange with her Oprah Daily community was different.
Winfrey said she had a revelation while hosting a panel called “The State of Weight” as part of her “The Life You Want” class series. After speaking with medical professionals who confirmed that obesity is a disease rather than a problem with a lack of willpower, Winfrey says she was finally allowed to free herself from the blame she’d placed on herself for so long.
“It was the first time I had heard it confirmed in a way that actually it got through, ‘It’s not your fault,” she said. “I loved that State of Weight so much, because the ahas were like hitting me in the head, and I could see on the faces of the audience members the exact same thing happening.”
Fighting back tears, Winfrey talked about the pain she experienced as the media mocked her struggles with weight, referencing a magazine cover photo of herself with the headline, “Dumpy, Frumpy and Downright Lumpy.”
“Making fun of my weight was national sport for 25 years,” Winfrey said. “It was just accepted that you could make fun of me and my weight.”
Winfrey added that she felt so self-conscious about regaining weight after her memorable November 1988 show where she dragged out a wagon filled with fat representing the weight she lost on a liquid diet, that she turned down an invitation to a holiday party hosted by actor Don Johnson.
But Winfrey hopes conversations like “The State of Weight” help remove the shame people feel around body image and free them from the idea that their worth is attached to the number on the scale. As she steps into a new decade, she says she’s ready to leave the shame around her body image in the past.
“I just recently turned 70 and I’m not carrying it into the next decade,” she said.