This week, Barbra Streisand ignited a discussion about weight, body shaming, and the growing prevalence of drug use for weight loss on an Instagram post shared by Melissa McCarthy.
McCarthy, 53, posted two pictures of herself and director Adam Shankman at a gala in Los Angeles over the weekend on her Instagram profile on Sunday.
“Give him my regards,” Streisand, 82, said in response to McCarthy’s images in the comments section, referencing Shankman. She then asked, “Did you take Ozempic?”
“Babs!!” was written in Streisand’s since-deleted comment, which was screengrabbed by the Instagram account Comments by Celebs and shared on the accounts page.
Hours later, Streisand publicly addressed the comment in a follow-up Instagram story post, writing, “OMG – I went on Instagram to see the photographs we’d posted of the wonderful flowers I’d received for my birthday! A picture of my buddy Melissa McCarthy, with whom I sang on my Encore CD, was placed beneath them. She had an amazing appearance! All I wanted to do was give her a hug. I neglected that everyone is reading.”
McCarthy and Streisand have collaborated in the past; in 2016, they even did a duet.
McCarthy retaliated late on Tuesday by sharing a video on her Instagram account that stated, “The takeaway? I’m real, Barbra Streisand knows that. She said I looked fantastic when she reached out to me. I triumph for the day.
The caption for the video, which showed McCarthy clutching a magazine with Streisand, read “@barbrastreisand fan club members only!!!” and included four heart emojis.
Is it ever OK to ask a person about their weight?
A discussion regarding the stigma associated with weight-loss medications, such as Ozempic, erupted on social media shortly after Streisand posted a comment from her verified Instagram account.
“Barbara, why do those who have never experienced obesity care so much? What difference does it make? One user stated, “Whether she has or hasn’t, it’s not your concern. Even if it was intended to be a direct message, it’s still rude!”
Another commenter said, “Ozempic admit or keep silent!!” “In every article published worldwide, not a single celebrity has acknowledged decreasing their weight by more than 40 pounds. Nobody wants to acknowledge that they have been taking medication for a year, have shrunk six sizes, and are attempting to justify themselves.
Over the past two years, medications that can lead to weight loss, including Ozempic as well as Zepbound, Wegovy and Mounjaro, have become more widely available and have skyrocketed in popularity.
Both Ozempic and Mounjaro are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Type 2 diabetes, but some doctors prescribe the medication “off-label” for weight loss, as is permissible by the FDA.
Wegovy and Zepbound, which contain the same active ingredients as Ozempic and Mounjaro, respectively, are each FDA-approved as a weight loss management treatment for people with obesity, or those who are overweight with at least one related underlying condition, such as high blood pressure.
