Chelsea Handler got on the Ozempic train without even knowing it: ‘Not right for me’
Chelsea Handler said she unknowingly sampled the injectable diabetes medication Ozempic, which has reportedly become Hollywood’s new favorite weight-loss drug.
In Wednesday’s episode of Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast, the “Chelsea Lately” comedian explained how she ended up using the medication, which is also known as semaglutide.
“My anti-aging doctor just hands it out to anybody,” she told Cooper. “I didn’t even know I was on it.”
Chelsea Handler on her post-pandemic stand-up special ‘Revolution,’ managing a weekly podcast and considering a potential return to late night.
Handler alleged that her doctor said to use Ozempic “if you ever want to drop 5 pounds.” After receiving her doses, Handler injected herself and went to lunch with a friend a few days later.
“[My friend’s] like, ‘I’m not really eating anything, I’m so nauseous. I’m on Ozempic.’ And I was like, ‘I’m kinda nauseous too,’” Handler recalled.
She first dismissed the nausea as jet lag and told her friend she’s on semaglutide, who said it’s the same thing as Ozempic. Common side effects for those using Ozempic include nausea, stomach pain, constipation, diarrhea and vomiting.
TikTok has helped fuel a trend of doctors prescribing the drug off label to people for weight loss, leading to a medication shortage for diabetic patients.
“I’m not on it anymore. I stopped taking [it],” Handler said on the podcast. “That’s too irresponsible.”
Earlier in the podcast, Handler claimed that “everyone is on Ozempic” and called the medication a “miracle” that’s “too good to be true.”
“I’m an irresponsible drug user, but I’m not going to take a diabetic drug — I tried it and I’m not going to do that,” she said. “That’s not for me, that’s not right for me.”
Those living with chronic diseases have little choice but to pay more for the medicine, supplies, and food they need to stay healthy.
Earlier in January, the comedian joked about Hollywood’s alleged love for Ozempic as a new weight-loss drug at the 2023 Critics Choice Awards.
“Gaslighting is when someone tries to convince you that your own perceptions of reality are wrong, like when celebrities say they lost weight by drinking water but really it’s because everyone’s on Ozempic,” she said during her opening monologue, earning laughter and applause.
She told Cooper during the podcast that she’s “injected about four or five of my friends with Ozempic,” but that she didn’t want to keep using the drug due to its limited supply.
“It’s going to backfire,” Handler said. “Something bad’s going to happen.”
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