“It set a standard for people watching that I nor anybody else could uphold, one of my biggest regrets.”
In acknowledging her past contributions to diet culture, Oprah Winfrey said, “I’ve been a stubborn participant in this diet culture. “I’ve been a major contributor to it through my platforms, through the magazine, through the talk show for 25 years, through online,” she said at a live Weight Watchers YouTube event.
Winfrey referred especially to a contentious 1988 talk show episode in which she displayed a wagon loaded with animal fat to symbolize her weight loss from a liquid diet. “One of my biggest regrets,” she added, “It set a standard for people watching that I nor anybody else could uphold.”
“Whatever your path, let’s stop the shaming,” Winfrey said, expressing her wish to shift away from weight-shaming and toward body acceptance and positive thinking. “I cannot tell you how many weight loss shows and makeovers I have done, and they have been a staple since I have been working in television,” she said, announcing that she is “done” with fad diets.