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When a sports team loses, its fans don’t hang around for the postgame show. The same goes for the tribal habits of cable news audiences. Viewers have fled left-leaning MSNBC since Vice President Kamala Harris lost the presidential race to former President Trump on Nov. 5. The audience for the Comcast-owned channel is down 46% compared to the first 10 months of 2024, according to Nielsen data. CNN, which has long battled ratings swings dictated by news coverage, is down 33% after the election. Fox News, which last week presented Trump with its “Patriot of the Year” honor, has seen its audience surge. In November, the Murdoch family’s network captured a 70% share of the cable news audience in the weeks since the president-elect won another term in the White House; that’s the largest in its history. The ratings tumult comes at a time when the cable business is facing an existential crisis, as more consumers are forgoing the pay-TV subscriptions that provide most of its revenue. The corporate parents of the major news outlets are facing business challenges as well. CNN is expected to make significant workforce cuts early next year as its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, tries to reduce debt. Comcast is spinning off MSNBC and its other cable networks into a new company so that the declining business does not drag down its stock price. Some of MSNBC’s biggest stars, including Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle, have been asked to take pay cuts, as revenues and profits come under pressure. While Fox News is more dominant than ever in the ratings, its corporate parent, Fox Corp., also faces uncertainty. Rupert Murdoch’s attempt to give control of his media empire to his son Lachlan was rejected by a Nevada probate commissioner this week. The proposed change in the family trust, which aimed to cut out the more liberal-leaning Murdoch siblings, has led to speculation that there could be a conflict over the network’s conservative direction after the 93-year-old mogul dies. While those factors loom, the networks also have to fight the ongoing trend of consumers cutting the cable cord. Fox News, CNN and MSNBC are all currently available in around 66 million pay TV households, according to Nielsen data, a 28% decline from 2016, the year Trump’s unpredictable presidential candidacy turbocharged their ratings. Despite the steady erosion of pay-TV coverage, Fox News and MSNBC have maintained their popularity among viewers still using cable. Fox News will finish the year with an average of 1.5 million viewers over the full day, an increase of 5% from 2016. MSNBC has 820,000 viewers, up 35% from that year. CNN, which has faced management changes and a shift away from opinionated hosts, has not fared as well, dropping 34% over the period to 493,000 viewers. All of the cable news channels saw growth over 2023 thanks to major political events as the party nominations and debates brought in larger audiences. Through Dec. 10, Fox News is up 21%, MSNBC gained 5% and CNN increased 3%. Trump remains a ratings driver for Fox News, and the network was again the main destination for viewers following his campaign. From June 27, the date of President Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump, through July 12, Fox News saw its audience increase 51% compared to the period a year earlier, far higher than its competitors. The levels spiked after the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump through July 21, when Biden dropped out of the race — a turning point many Fox News commentators had speculated about for months. The network saw a 147% year-to-year increase over that span. Just as Trump performed better this time with voters in liberal states such as New York and California, Fox News is seeing ratings lifts in Democratic cities as well. The gains began in October 2023 after Hamas launched its attack on Israel. While the evidence is anecdotal, Fox News executives believe pro-Israel viewers in Democratic-leaning markets came to the network for its Middle East coverage. Some of them have stuck around. Fox News also has pointed to Nielsen data that shows that a growing number of Democrats and self-described independent voters are watching. “There is no doubt we are getting new viewers,” Fox Corp. Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic said at a recent UBS investors conference. “People think Fox News is just the conservatives of the United States. It’s not.” But the biggest fan of Fox News will be found in the Oval Office starting in January. While Trump occasionally grumbles about the network’s news coverage of him, he has dipped deep into its roster of hosts and contributors for cabinet posts, including his embattled defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth . While Fox News is polarizing in the public discourse, its fans are loyal. A recent study of election night viewers by media research firm Magid showed Fox News viewers had the highest satisfaction level among those surveyed, followed by audiences for MSNBC, YouTube and local TV stations. The Fox News audience grew the most after a tough year in which the network paid a $787-million settlement to Dominion Voting Systems over false fraud claims made during coverage of the 2020 election. Just a week after the decision, top-rated host Tucker Carlson was dumped by Murdoch, which led to an overall ratings decline. But the network has long been successful at bouncing back from disruptions to its program lineup. Jesse Watters , a veteran personality on the network, replaced Carlson in his high-profile time period and is exceeding his ratings performance in total viewers and the 25-to-54 age demographic sought by advertisers. Before the exodus of viewers post-election day, MSNBC’s was on track for a second consecutive year of audience growth, a rarity in the cable business these days. Nielsen data shows that most of those viewers — likely fatigued or depressed about the election’s outcome — are tuning out news altogether. Many of them have headed for outlets that provide escapist entertainment, such as the Hallmark Channel. The postelection dropoff has happened before. When Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in 2016, MSNBC saw its prime-time ratings decline by 41% in the following weeks. Fox News saw an audience decline in 2020 after Trump lost to Biden, with viewers particularly irked that the network had called Arizona for the Democrat days ahead of its competition. MSNBC executives, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, are counting on the network’s devoted viewers to return as well, especially as disappointment over the Democratic loss fades and Trump makes news with his campaign promises such as mass deportations of migrants. The hope is the viewing will bounce back in January and return to its pre-election levels by spring. While liberal fans are said to be angry that MSNBC “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski made peace with Trump in a Mar-a-Lago visit last month, the ratings drop on their influential Beltway-focused program is no larger than the declines occurring across the rest of the network. MSNBC has a viewer panel it uses for research purposes. According to people familiar with the data who were not authorized to discuss it publicly, there have been only a handful of complaints about the network’s election coverage. The network’s programming has remained popular on YouTube, where it reaches younger viewers who likely don’t have a cable subscription. CNN improved on the lows it hit in 2023 but fell behind MSNBC for third place for the second consecutive year. As the pay-TV market deteriorates, CNN has stressed that it’s focused on digital distribution of its journalism, adding a paywall to its web site, which Comscore says is visited by 147 million people a month. More subscription-based offerings are expected to be launched next year.Parts of more than 30 states experienced well below normal precipitation from September through November. Ben Noll/The Washington Post; data source: ECMWF/ERA5 Even after a polar plunge, a bomb cyclone and atmospheric river, and heavy lake-effect snow, over 71% of the United States was still facing abnormally dry conditions as of early December. That number is down from a record-breaking 87% in November. But the winter season, which officially begins on Dec. 21, does not typically come with this much drought. Only the years 2012, 2021 and 2022 were more unusually dry this late in the year, putting 2024 in fourth place for countrywide dryness since such records began in 2000. Moderate drought is still happening in all but one state, Alaska, making up 27% of the land area in the country. With its dryness, the United States continues to be a global outlier. Last month was the third wettest November on record for the planet, which was associated with flooding in Greece, Malaysia and Thailand, and Cuba. Because the dryness was most pronounced during the crop harvest rather than the growing period, the impact on crop conditions wasn’t as bad as it could have been. In the case of corn and soybeans, yield reached near-record levels. STATES STILL DEALING WITH EXTREME DROUGHT Parts of 23 states, from California to New Hampshire, are experiencing extreme (level 3 out of 4) or exceptional (level 4 out of 5) drought. Precipitation deficits are stark. Climate data from September through November confirmed that over 30 states had well below normal rainfall. However, drought severity is not just about intensity – it’s about duration, too. Over the past six months, deficits of six inches or more were observed in more than two dozen states. That could equate to two to three months’ worth of rain, depending on the location. Parts of Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have also experienced similarly stark deficits. IS THERE ANY RELIEF IN SIGHT? Most regions are forecast to continue to have below normal rainfall in the short-term. The exceptions will be the East Coast, Deep South and Pacific Northwest. Much-needed rainfall is forecast in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire – states that still have areas of extreme or exceptional drought. The Northwest, Deep South and East Coast will probably experience soaking precipitation over the next 10 days. Ben Noll/The Washington Post; data source: ECMWF The map below shows the chance of daily precipitation exceeding an inch over the next 10 days. In the green area extending from Louisiana to Maine, two surges of soaking precipitation are likely from Monday through Wednesday. For many areas, this will fall as rain, but for interior New England, snow is possible. This should result in a broad improvement in the drought status in these areas. DROUGHT’S TYPE, IMPACTS Meteorological drought, a prolonged period of below normal precipitation, typically takes at least a month or two to develop. But new research is investigating the emergence of flash droughts, which come about in just weeks, typically because of high temperatures, high evaporation rates and low rainfall. Agricultural drought develops when low precipitation translates to low soil moisture and water stress for plants. The third category is hydrological drought, which occurs when the above deficits translate to very low river flows and reservoir levels and reduced wetlands – culminating in the potential for environmental, social and economic impacts. The 2024 U.S. drought, which developed during late summer and intensified throughout fall, had cascading effects across all three drought types. Persistently below normal rainfall contributed to a significant reduction in soil moisture levels and stream flows. Reservoir levels in New York City recently slipped below 60%, compared with a normal of 82%. But because these effects were most pronounced during the crop harvest rather than the growing period, barley, corn, oats and soybeans reported the highest proportion of good or excellent conditions in several years, with record or near-record yield for corn and soybeans in particular. While that’s the good news, droughts take a long time to build and a long time to ease, meaning the impact of this year’s drought won’t be erased overnight. And it could easily linger into 2025. If that happens, farmers could be in for challenging times ahead – and that could have consequences for grocery prices. We invite you to add your comments. We encourage a thoughtful exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use . More information is found on our FAQs . You can modify your screen name here . Comments are managed by our staff during regular business hours Monday through Friday as well as limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Comments held for moderation outside of those hours may take longer to approve. Please sign into your Sun Journal account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe . Questions? Please see our FAQs . Your commenting screen name has been updated. Send questions/comments to the editors. « Previous Next »
How to buy Oregon vs Penn State 2024 Big Ten Football Championship ticketsJuan Soto gets free luxury suite and up to 4 premium tickets for home games in $765M Mets dealAbu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader whose stunning insurgency toppled Syria’s President Bashar Assad , has spent years working to remake his public image, renouncing longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. In recent days, the insurgency even dropped his nom de guerre and began referring to him by his real name, Ahmad al-Sharaa. The extent of that transformation from jihadi extremist to would-be state builder is now put to the test. Insurgents control capital Damascus , Assad has fled into hiding, and for the first time after 50 years of his family’s iron hand, it is an open question how Syria will be governed. Syria is home to multiple ethnic and religious communities, often pitted against each other by Assad’s state and years of war. Many of them fear the possibility Sunni Islamist extremists will take over. The country is also fragmented among disparate armed factions, and foreign powers from Russia and Iran to the United States , Turkey and Israel all have their hands in the mix. The 42-year-old al-Golani -- labeled a terrorist by the United States -- has not appeared publicly since Damascus fell early Sunday. But he and his insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS – many of whose fighters are jihadis -- stand to be a major player. For years, al-Golani worked to consolidate power, while bottled up in the province of Idlib in Syria’s northwest corner as Assad’s Iranian- and Russian-backed rule over much of the country appeared solid. He maneuvered among extremist organizations while eliminating competitors and former allies. He sought to polish the image of his de-facto “salvation government” that has been running Idlib to win over international governments and reassure Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities. And he built ties with various tribes and other groups. Along the way, al-Golani shed his garb as a hard-line Islamist guerrilla and put on suits for press interviews, talking of building state institutions and decentralizing power to reflect Syria’s diversity. “Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional, no one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions,” he said in an interview with CNN last week, offering the possibility HTS would eventually be dissolved after Assad falls. “Don’t judge by words, but by actions,” he said. Al-Golani’s ties to al-Qaida stretch back to 2003, when he joined extremists battling U.S. troops in Iraq. The Syrian native was detained by the U.S. military but remained in Iraq. During that time, al-Qaida usurped like-minded groups and formed the extremist Islamic State of Iraq, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In 2011, a popular uprising against Syria’s Assad triggered a brutal government crackdown and led to all-out war. Al-Golani’s prominence grew when al-Baghdadi sent him to Syria to establish a branch of al-Qaida called the Nusra Front. The United States labeled the new group as a terrorist organization. That designation still remains in place and the U.S. government has put a $10 million bounty on him. As Syria’s civil war intensified in 2013, so did al-Golani’s ambitions. He defied al-Baghdadi’s calls to dissolve the Nusra Front and merge it with al-Qaida’s operation in Iraq, to form the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Al-Golani nonetheless pledged his allegiance to al-Qaida, which later disassociated itself from ISIS. The Nusra Front battled ISIS and eliminated much of its competition among the Syrian armed opposition to Assad. In his first interview in 2014, al-Golani kept his face covered, telling a reporter for Qatari network Al-Jazeera that he rejected political talks in Geneva to end the conflict. He said his goal was to see Syria ruled under Islamic law and made clear that there was no room for the country’s Alawite, Shiite, Druze and Christian minorities. In 2016, al-Golani revealed his face to the public for the first time in a video message that announced his group was renaming itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham -– the Syria Conquest Front -- and cutting its ties to al-Qaida. “This new organization has no affiliation to any external entity,” he said in the video, filmed wearing military garb and a turban. The move paved the way for al-Golani to assert full control over fracturing militant groups. A year later, his alliance rebranded again as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham -– meaning Organization for Liberating Syria -- as the groups merged, consolidating al-Golani’s power in northwest Syria’s Idlib province. HTS later clashed with independent Islamist militants who opposed the merger, further emboldening al-Golani and his group as the leading power in northwestern Syria, able to rule with an iron fist. With his power consolidated, al-Golani set in motion a transformation that few could have imagined. Replacing his military garb with shirt and trousers, he began calling for religious tolerance and pluralism. He appealed to the Druze community in Idlib, which the Nusra Front had previously targeted, and visited the families of Kurds who were killed by Turkish-backed militias. In 2021, al-Golani had his first interview with an American journalist on PBS. Wearing a blazer, with his short hair gelled back, the now more soft-spoken HTS leader said that his group posed no threat to the West and that sanctions imposed against it were unjust. “Yes, we have criticized Western policies,” he said. “But to wage a war against the United States or Europe from Syria, that’s not true. We didn’t say we wanted to fight.”
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WASHINGTON (AP) — After several weeks working mostly behind closed doors, Vice President-elect JD Vance returned to Capitol Hill this week in a new, more visible role: Helping Donald Trump try to get his most contentious Cabinet picks to confirmation in the Senate, where Vance has served for the last two years. Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday with former Rep. Matt Gaetz and spent the morning sitting in on meetings between Trump’s choice for attorney general and key Republicans, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The effort was for naught: Gaetz announced a day later that he was withdrawing his name amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations and the reality that he was unlikely to be confirmed. Thursday morning Vance was back, this time accompanying Pete Hegseth, the “Fox & Friends Weekend” host whom Trump has tapped to be the next secretary of defense. Hegseth also has faced allegations of sexual assault that he denies. Vance is expected to accompany other nominees for meetings in coming weeks as he tries to leverage the two years he has spent in the Senate to help push through Trump's picks. The role of introducing nominees around Capitol Hill is an unusual one for a vice president-elect. Usually the job goes to a former senator who has close relationships on the Hill, or a more junior aide. But this time the role fits Vance, said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s first director of legislative affairs as well as chief of staff to Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who spent more than a decade in Congress and led the former president’s transition ahead of his first term. ”JD probably has a lot of current allies in the Senate and so it makes sense to have him utilized in that capacity,” Short said. Unlike the first Trump transition, which played out before cameras at Trump Tower in New York and at the president-elect's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, this one has largely happened behind closed doors in Palm Beach, Florida. There, a small group of officials and aides meet daily at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort to run through possible contenders and interview job candidates. The group includes Elon Musk, the billionaire who has spent so much time at the club that Trump has joked he can’t get rid of him. Vance has been a constant presence, even as he’s kept a lower profile. The Ohio senator has spent much of the last two weeks in Palm Beach, according to people familiar with his plans, playing an active role in the transition, on which he serves as honorary chair. Vance has been staying at a cottage on the property of the gilded club, where rooms are adorned with cherubs, oriental rugs and intricate golden inlays. It's a world away from the famously hardscrabble upbringing that Vance documented in the memoir that made him famous, “Hillbilly Elegy.” His young children have also joined him at Mar-a-Lago, at times. Vance was photographed in shorts and a polo shirt playing with his kids on the seawall of the property with a large palm frond, a U.S. Secret Service robotic security dog in the distance. On the rare days when he is not in Palm Beach, Vance has been joining the sessions remotely via Zoom. Though he has taken a break from TV interviews after months of constant appearances, Vance has been active in the meetings, which began immediately after the election and include interviews and as well as presentations on candidates’ pluses and minuses. Among those interviewed: Contenders to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray , as Vance wrote in a since-deleted social media post. Defending himself from criticism that he’d missed a Senate vote in which one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees was confirmed, Vance wrote that he was meeting at the time "with President Trump to interview multiple positions for our government, including for FBI Director.” “I tend to think it’s more important to get an FBI director who will dismantle the deep state than it is for Republicans to lose a vote 49-46 rather than 49-45,” Vance added on X. “But that’s just me.” While Vance did not come in to the transition with a list of people he wanted to see in specific roles, he and his friend, Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a member of the transition team, were eager to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. find roles in the administration. Trump ended up selecting Gabbard as the next director of national intelligence , a powerful position that sits atop the nation’s spy agencies and acts as the president’s top intelligence adviser. And he chose Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services , a massive agency that oversees everything from drug and food safety to Medicare and Medicaid. Vance was also a big booster of Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who will serve as Trump's “border czar.” In another sign of Vance's influence, James Braid, a top aide to the senator, is expected to serve as Trump’s legislative affairs director. Allies say it’s too early to discuss what portfolio Vance might take on in the White House. While he gravitates to issues like trade, immigration and tech policy, Vance sees his role as doing whatever Trump needs. Vance was spotted days after the election giving his son’s Boy Scout troop a tour of the Capitol and was there the day of leadership elections. He returned in earnest this week, first with Gaetz — arguably Trump’s most divisive pick — and then Hegseth, who has was been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, according to an investigative report made public this week. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Vance hosted Hegseth in his Senate office as GOP senators, including those who sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee, filtered in to meet with the nominee for defense secretary. While a president’s nominees usually visit individual senators’ offices, meeting them on their own turf, the freshman senator — who is accompanied everywhere by a large Secret Service detail that makes moving around more unwieldy — instead brought Gaetz to a room in the Capitol on Wednesday and Hegseth to his office on Thursday. Senators came to them. Vance made it to votes Wednesday and Thursday, but missed others on Thursday afternoon. Vance is expected to continue to leverage his relationships in the Senate after Trump takes office. But many Republicans there have longer relationships with Trump himself. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, said that Trump was often the first person to call him back when he was trying to reach high-level White House officials during Trump's first term. “He has the most active Rolodex of just about anybody I’ve ever known,” Cramer said, adding that Vance would make a good addition. “They’ll divide names up by who has the most persuasion here,” Cramer said, but added, “Whoever his liaison is will not work as hard at it as he will.” Cramer was complimentary of the Ohio senator, saying he was “pleasant” and ” interesting” to be around. ′′He doesn’t have the long relationships," he said. "But we all like people that have done what we’ve done. I mean, that’s sort of a natural kinship, just probably not as personally tied.” Under the Constitution, Vance will also have a role presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes. But he's not likely to be needed for that as often as was Kamala Harris, who broke a record number of ties for Democrats as vice president, since Republicans will have a bigger cushion in the chamber next year. Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.NoneWarning: This post discusses weight loss. In recent years, celebrities have turned to Ozempic and similar drugs for weight loss. While the FDA has approved Wegovy and Zepbound for weight management, Ozempic and Mounjaro officially remain medications for type 2 diabetics. According to NPR , shortages due in part to Hollywood's fondness for the drugs have left many diabetics unable to access the medications they need. NPR pointed out that the drugmakers themselves have advertised heavily, with some commercials including the number of pounds patients lost even when that particular medication was meant for type 2 diabetics. This, in combination with social media, has also increased demand for using those drugs for weight loss. Because these drugs are so popular, many social media users accuse famous people of using Ozempic whenever a celebrity loses weight. Here are 19 celebrities who have either admitted to or denied using Ozempic and similar drugs: 1. Admitted it: Kelly Osbourne This year, the reality TV star raved about Ozempic while chatting with E! News . "I think it's amazing. There are a million ways to lose weight. Why not do it through something [that] isn't as boring as working out?" "People hate on it because they want to do it," she continued. "And the people who hate on it the most are the people who are secretly doing it or pissed off that they can't afford it. Unfortunately, right now it's something that is very expensive, but it eventually won't be because it actually works." 2. Denied it: Khloé Kardashian In 2023, the reality TV star posted photos of herself on Instagram, which sparked Ozempic accusations in the comments. “Let’s not discredit my years of working out," Khloé replied . "I get up 5 days a week at 6am to train. Please stop with your assumptions. I guess new year still means mean people." This year, she shared more of her thoughts on an episode of The Kardashians . "When I was bigger, if they had Ozempic, I probably would have tried it, 'cause I tried any other thing. I tried any fad weight loss trend except for the real thing that actually works, and that’s a lifestyle change." She encouraged viewers to focus on "healthiness" and not just "the number on a scale." 3. Admitted it: Amy Schumer On a 2023 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen , the actor called out other celebs for lying about their weight loss. "Everyone has been lying saying, 'Oh, smaller portions.' Like, shut the fuck up," she said. "You are on Ozempic or one of those things, or you got work done. Just stop. Be real with the people. When I got lipo, I said I got lipo." The actor also said she used Ozempic in the past but experienced negative side effects. "Like a year ago, I tried it. I was one of those people that felt so sick and couldn't play with my son. I was so skinny and he's throwing a ball at me and [I couldn't]. And you're like, 'OK, this isn't livable for me.' But I immediately invested because I knew everyone was going to try it." 4. Denied it: Lizzo In September, the singer shared an Instagram video of herself at the gym. In the comments, someone accused her of either using Ozempic or cocaine to achieve weight loss. Lizzo responded a few days later with another video, this one captioned, "When you finally get ozempic allegations after 5 months of weight training and calorie deficit." She spoke along to the sound of the video, saying, "It's like a reward." 5. Admitted it: Elon Musk On X (formerly known as Twitter), a user complimented Elon's looks and asked for his secret. The X owner replied , "Fasting." In a second tweet, he said , "And Wegovy." According to WebMD , "Ozempic and Wegovy are different brand names for the same injectable drug, semaglutide." Wegovy is "approved to manage weight in adults and kids 12 and up who have obesity" while Ozempic is "approved to lower blood sugar when you have type 2 diabetes." 6. Denied it: Kylie Jenner Ozempic rumors have plagued the reality TV star since Travis Scott (Kylie's ex and the father of her two children) released a song with the lyrics: "She doin' Ozempic, tryna be different, tryna be a newer woman." In August, she spoke to British Vogue about her body's journey throughout motherhood, explaining that as soon as she felt "in shape" again after the birth of her first child, she became pregnant with her second. "I feel like people didn’t give me, or give women in general, enough empathy... I see pictures [online] and people are accusing me of being on drugs or something,” she added, referring to Ozempic and similar drugs. "I’m back at my weight I was before I had my daughter and son, and people are putting side-by-sides of me three months postpartum. I’m like: 'Does everyone forget that I had two children, and I gained 60 pounds both pregnancies?'" 7. Admitted it: Oprah Winfrey Last year, the media mogul told People that she uses a weight loss drug, though she didn't specify the name of it. "It was public sport to make fun of me for 25 years," she said. "I have been blamed and shamed, and I blamed and shamed myself." Oprah explained that she uses it "as a tool to manage not yo-yoing. The fact that there's a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for. I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself." 8. Denied it: Jessica Simpson Last year, the singer addressed Ozempic rumors during an interview with Bustle . "Oh, Lord. I mean, it is not. It’s willpower. I’m like, do people want me to be drinking again? Because that’s when I was heavier. Or they want me to be having another baby? My body can’t do it." 9. Admitted it: James Corden In September, the comedian discussed his Ozempic usage on his SiriusXM podcast This Life of Mine. "It won’t be surprising to you when you look at me now that it didn’t really work. All it does is make you feel not hungry. But I am very rarely eating [because of hunger]. You are looking at someone who’s eaten a king size — and when I say king size Dairy Milk, one you give someone for Christmas — in a carwash. None of that was like: 'Oh, I’m so hungry.' It is not that, it’s something else." 10. Denied it: Ice Spice In August, the rapper hosted an X Spaces (formerly known as Twitter Spaces) where she denied the Ozempic rumors that abounded after her recent weight loss. "I wish y'all never learned the word Ozempic," she said. "That's one thing I wish. Oh my God, like, what even is Ozempic? What the fuck is that? Genuinely, what is that?" "Like, you lazy ass bitches never heard of a gym?" she continued. "It's called the gym. It's called eating healthy. It's called being on tour. Like, what the hell? Maybe if I was sitting home all day, it would be easier to stay big." 11. Admitted it: Rebel Wilson In March, the actor told The Sunday Times that she embarked on a journey to lose weight when a doctor told her it would be beneficial for IVF. While she no longer takes Ozempic, she previously combined it with exercise, a high-protein, low-sugar diet, and examining her relationship with food with a doctor. "Basically no one apart from my mom wanted me to lose weight," she said. "People thought I'd lose my pigeonhole in my career, playing the fat funny character, and they wanted me to continue in that." Rebel added, "I feel strongly that young women shouldn't try to obsess over looking like Victoria's Secret models — they should just look like themselves. I know that my relationship with food is complicated." 12. Denied it: Ashley Benson Four months after giving birth to her daughter, the actor posted a mirror selfie on social media, where commenters accused her of using Ozempic. She responded in an Instagram story, writing, "I know a lot of people take ozempic and that's totally fine. To each their own. But don't discredit people who also work very hard to get their body back like I've done with mine." "Getting back to work forced me to focus on my health and working out and I wanted to feel confident and good about myself. And again couldn't do this without my @melissawoodtepperberg app." 13. Admitted it: Whoopi Goldberg In March, the actor discussed her weight loss on an episode of The View . "I will tell you, I weighed almost 300 lbs. when I made Till ," she said. "I had taken all those steroids, I was on all this stuff. And one of the things that’s helped me dropped the weight was the Mounjaro. That’s what I used." According to WebMD , Mounjaro and Zepbound are brand names for the same drug (tirzepatide), but "Mounjaro is approved for type 2 diabetes" while "Zepbound is approved for weight management in adults with a BMI of 30 or more" or overweight adults with health conditions. 14. Denied it: Julia Fox During a 2023 interview with Entertainment Tonight , the actor addressed the swirling rumors that she was using Ozempic. "All these people are coming for me saying that I take the weight loss things... people are saying that I'm taking Ozempic or whatever it's called. I'm not, and I've never have... I would never do that. There are diabetics that need it." 15. Admitted it: Chelsea Handler On a 2023 episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, the comedian said she took it without realizing it. "So, my anti-aging doctor just hands it out to anybody. I didn't even know I was on it. She said, 'If you ever want to drop five pounds, this is good.'" After a vacation, Chelsea injected herself with it, and she met a friend for lunch a few days later who complained of nausea from Ozempic. When Chelsea said she was also nauseous and "on semaglutide," her friend replied, "That's Ozempic." Chelsea said she's no longer taking it. "That's too irresponsible. I'm an irresponsible drug user, but I'm not gonna take a diabetic drug. I tried it, and I'm not gonna do that. That's not for me. That's not right for me." 16. Denied it: Jesse Plemons When questions swirled around his weight loss this year, the actor told the Los Angeles Times , "It’s really unfortunate that I decided to get healthy when everyone decided to take Ozempic. It doesn’t matter, everyone’s going to think I took Ozempic anyways." He credited intermittent fasting for his weight loss. "Several people talked to me about intermittent fasting, and I just gave it a shot and [was] surprised at how quickly it was effective. So I lost a little bit before I did that part and then felt like I was in the rhythm, I was feeling better, and something shifted in my head. I just sort of got a handle on it." 17. Admitted it: Sunny Hostin In March, the talk show host shared her experience on an episode of The View . "During COVID, I gained 40. lbs. All I did was eat ... I love to cook, and I found out, I love to eat. And I was horrified about the fact that I would have to come out on air. So I also took Mounjaro." She added, "I found that my cholesterol went up to 200 when I gained the extra weight. And I use Mounjaro, and my cholesterol is 140 now. I feel better, I think I look better, and that’s what this is about for people." 18. Denied it: Julianne Hough In October, the actor posted an Instagram video of herself wearing a bikini and having fun as she enjoyed her friend's routine: sauna, cold plunge, and jumping on a trampoline. The comments were particularly negative, with many social media users discussing her body and some accusing her of using Ozempic. Julianne addressed the backlash and seemingly denied Ozempic use. "My body has never been healthier - I was full of inflammation in my 20’s and had a marker for an auto immune that I addressed and committed to over a year and a half ago. I’ve frozen my eggs over the last few years which also shifts the body fluctuation. I’ve never been healthier or happier from the inside out. Grief, loss. Sadness and fear also get stored in the body and we hold on to that in different ways. I made it a huge priority to accept, express, process and release a lot of emotions over the years." 19. And finally, admitted it: Sharon Osbourne On a 2023 episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored , the reality TV star warned viewers about the Ozempic side effects she experienced. “I didn’t want to go this thin. It just happened... You can’t stay on it forever. I lost 42 pounds now and it’s just enough." She added, "You don’t throw up physically, but you have got that feeling. I was about two, three weeks where I felt nauseous the whole time. You get very thirsty, and you don’t eat. That’s why I say you have to keep this stuff away from younger people. They will go berserk on it, and it’s not right." What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below.
