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Bethenny Frankel is wading into the Ozempic discussion and sharing her thoughts on the weight-loss medication. Her comments come after many celebrities have been either accused of taking the weight loss drug or have admitted to taking Ozempic to shed weight quickly.
Ozempic is the brand name of a type 2 diabetes medication known as semaglutide, as per the FDA. Since the drug has also been found to lead to rapid weight loss, there have been many discussions and speculation about which stars are on it.
Frankel posted a video to her Instagram on April 4 warning people against using the drug and discussing its potentially “very scary” impacts on people’s lives and communities. Frankel said it was bringing to mind weight-loss pills that were popular when she was younger and were later found to have devastating impacts on people’s health, such as Ma Huang, otherwise known as ephedra.
Studies found that pills containing ephedra contributed to weight loss, but negative side effects such as heart palpitations and psychiatric episodes led to the FDA prohibiting drugs containing ephedra in 2004. Frankel said she believes the same will happen with Ozempic but it will take months or years to know the true effects.
“This Ozempic thing is gonna go f****** sideways,” she concluded. She reiterated her point in the caption of her post, writing, “If someone is struggling with obesity and working with a doctor, that is one thing (and this is all new in this application) but thin rich country club cul de sac Americans, buying this online and at Mexican pharmacies is another thing… Nobody gets out without paying the bill. How do people know the long term ramifications?”
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Jackie Goldschneider Also Issued a Warning About Ozempic in February 2023
Frankel’s comments are similar to warnings made by Jackie Goldschneider in February 2023. The “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star, who’s been open on the show about her battle with an eating disorder, told Page Six that she felt very passionate about the subject and was “horrified” by its use in celebrity circles.
She said the rapid weight loss could likely contribute to a rise in eating disorders as people become addicted to the effects of the drug. Goldschneider also pointed out that it’s unclear what will happen when people stop taking the drugs and warned people that the long-term effects weren’t fully known.
At the time, Goldschneider said there were people in her circle and “in the ‘Housewives’ world” who were on Ozempic or similar drugs, although she didn’t name any names.
Dolores Catania and Golnesa ‘GG’ Gharachedaghi Have Admitted to Taking Semaglutide
A couple of Bravolebrities have admitted to using Ozempic or other weight loss drugs, including Golnesa ‘GG’ Gharachedaghi and Dolores Catania. Gharachedaghi has posted about her journey with the drug on her Instagram, including videos showing her injecting herself with the drug.
“I am on the weight-loss shots, honey, OK,” she said in one video. “I’m just not going to lie about it because I always keep it real about what is fake.” She said that she’d been on it for four weeks because she was having trouble losing weight following steroid injections she had to receive and had already lost 11 pounds.
RHONJ star Catania has also admitted to taking semaglutide for weight loss over the past six weeks. She made the comments on “Watch What Happens Live” on April 4, hinting that all of her co-stars are also taking the drug. “I wasn’t going to come to the reunion looking any bigger than anyone else, so I got on the bandwagon,” she revealed. Catania pointed out that she’s actually taking Mounjaro, not Ozempic, which is another type of the same drug.
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