Sharon Osbourne stopped taking Ozempic a “while” ago, but she claims she’s still having trouble gaining her weight back.
“I’m too gaunt and I can’t put any weight on,” Osbourne, 71, told the Daily Mail in an interview published on Friday, November 17. “I want to, because I feel I’m too skinny. I’m under 100 pounds and I don’t want to be. Be careful what you wish for.”
Osbourne explained that she started taking Ozempic, a semaglutide injection that lowers blood sugar, in December 2022. “I’ve been off it for a while now, but my warning is don’t give it to teenagers, it’s just too easy,” she added. “You can lose so much weight, and it’s easy to become addicted to that, which is very dangerous. I couldn’t stop losing weight and now I’ve lost 42 pounds and I can’t afford to lose any more.”
Osbourne previously opened up about the harsh side effects she experienced while taking Ozempic, which has become popular for its off-label use as a weight loss drug. “I was very sick for a couple of months,” she said during a May episode of the U.K.’s The Talk. “The first couple of months, I just felt nauseous. Every day I felt nauseous, my stomach was upset, whatever.”
She noted at the time that she took Ozempic for four months. Her appetite returned after she stopped taking the drug, but she said it became hard for her to gain weight no matter what she ate. “I eat normally now, and I haven’t put on a pound. Nothing,” she claimed.
Osbourne is one of many celebrities to speak out about Ozempic and similar drugs in recent months, with some — including Dolores Catania and Emily Simpson — crediting the medication with helping them lose weight. Others have said they experienced side effects like the ones Osbourne described.
“Like a year ago, I tried it. I was one of those people that felt so sick and couldn’t play with my son,” Amy Schumer said during a June appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “I was so skinny and he’s throwing a ball at me and [I couldn’t respond].”
The comedian, 42, said the adverse side effects caused her to take a break from the drug. “You’re like, ‘OK, this isn’t livable for me,’” she added. “But I immediately invested because I knew everyone was going to try it.”
Earlier this month, celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels exclusively told Us Weekly she appreciates the “transparency” some stars have displayed while talking about Ozempic. “I would just say to celebrities that are taking it [to] be real careful,” she added. “This is not what you think it is, and nobody is invested in telling you the truth.”
