Inside Ozempic’s Rise as Hollywood’s Latest “Miracle” Diet Drug

Over the last several months, there is one word that seems to be on everyone’s lips, from Hollywood starlets to tech moguls and TikTok phenoms: Ozempic. The drug, taken in the form of weekly injections, is meant to treat diabetics by regulating blood sugar levels. But its side effect of relatively easy, relatively quick weight loss is giving it enormous off-label popularity.

Rumors started swirling that A-list celebrities were using the so-called “skinny pens” to drop tens of pounds in a matter of months. TikTokers documented their weight-loss journeys to tens of millions of followers. With the rise of telemedicine platforms and med spas, different specialists can dole out prescriptions to basically anyone. 

On this week’s episode of Inside the Hive, registered dietician Kim Shapira, who has seen clients in Hollywood for nearly 25 years, discusses the nuances of the fad, for better or worse. 

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

Emily Jane Fox: I would imagine that not everyone wants to get injections for the rest of their life, particularly if they’re not covered by insurance and they can be expensive and you are just doing this as a quick fix to a problem that I know people feel is a real problem. But if they go off of this, it’s not like your habits immediately change.

Kim Shapira: I agree.

Emily Jane Fox: Do they stand to gain the weight?

Kim Shapira: I will tell you, I’ve been seeing a few clients on Ozempic for the last year and some had no business getting it. Some were over 200 pounds and rightly needed [it], okay. So in the case where the client shouldn’t have gotten it but was desperate enough, I can talk to her all about the potential side effects. But what is really important is that she is spending week after week with me working on practices that she can’t use when she gets off the drug, because she’s coming from a place of desperation and fear, and she’s not the only one.

If somebody said, “I want to follow keto” or “I wanna just eat meat,” I would say, “Here’s what I think about that, and let me show you how to do it in the best possible way,” where you can take care of yourself [in a way] that is more sustainable.

Emily Jane Fox: If you follow celebrity gossip accounts online, on Instagram, on TikTok, you see that a lot of celebrities are rumored to be taking this. And if you’re a young teenager and you are idolizing these people who have Hundreds of millions of followers on the internet, You’re gonna say, “I wanna take this too, I want the quick fix,” and that makes my skin crawl.

Kim Shapira: I agree with you a hundred percent. And it’s out there, it’s happening. It scares me. I’m raising three daughters, and you know, we’ve had lots of conversations. I have planted seeds in my own children to focus less on weight and more on what their body is telling them and their own cues. Disordered eating has been rampant for both of our entire lives and way before we’ve been around. 

I think the best thing that we can do is [help] these young adults without bringing attention to another person’s weight. There’s just so much conversation about their weight and their weight loss, but in no way would I ever approach any person in real life and talk about their weight, and I’m a dietician. I’m not just seeing them for losing weight.