weight loss

Chelsea Handler Says She Didn’t Realize She Was on Ozempic

Photo: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Champagne Colle & OBC Wines

Lately, it seems like no one can stop talking about Ozempic, an injectable diabetes medication that has earned a reputation as a popular weight-loss treatment among the one percent. Despite the fact that the drug is not FDA approved for chronic weight loss, doctors seem to be prescribing it off-label to help people shed pounds. Khloé Kardashian, Kyle Richards, and Rosie O’Donnell have all denied using Ozempic amid rumors that they’re taking the drug. Meanwhile, others have described catastrophic side effects, including extreme nausea and major gastrointestinal issues.

And if Chelsea Handler’s experience is any indication, it seems as if Ozempic is indeed rampant in Hollywood. During a recent episode of Call Her Daddy, Handler claimed that she was unknowingly taking the drug after her doctor prescribed her a medication called semaglutide for weight loss. (At the time, she says she didn’t know that Ozempic is the brand name of semaglutide.)

“Everyone is on Ozempic,” Handler said after jokingly revealing that she’d injected several of her friends with Ozempic and had some at her home. “My anti-aging doctor just hands it out to anybody.” Recalling her own experience with the drug, she said, “I didn’t even know I was on it.”

Handler said her doctor told her, “Oh, if you ever wanna drop five pounds, this is good.” She went on to recount injecting herself with the drug and then going to lunch with a friend who was also on Ozempic days later: “She was like, ‘I’m not really eating anything. I’m so nauseous; I’m on Ozempic.’ And I was like, ‘I’m kinda nauseous too! But I’m not on Ozempic.’ And she was like, ‘Are you sure?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, what is it? I’m on semaglutide.’ And she goes, ‘That’s Ozempic.’”

Handler clarified that she stopped taking it once she realized what it was. “I’m an irresponsible drug user, but I’m not gonna take a diabetic drug,” she said.

Chelsea Handler Says She Didn’t Realize She Was on Ozempic