Tracy Morgan is using Ozempic for weight loss — but he’s also in on the joke.
“You’ve been working on your body and your health,” Hoda Kotb said to Morgan, 54, during the Monday, August 14, episode of Today With Hoda and Jenna before the comedian quickly clarified that his gym efforts are not the reason he looks slimmer.
Morgan quipped: “No, that’s Ozempic. That’s how this weight got lost. … I went and got a prescription and I got Ozempic. And I ain’t letting it go!”
Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager were in stitches as Morgan told the story using his funny voice and making faces. “Are you really on Ozempic?” they both asked to which Morgan replied, “Yeah. I take Ozempic every Thursday. Cuts my appetite in half.”
Morgan was serious about using the drug, but he kept the Today cohosts laughing as he joked, “I only eat half a bag of Doritos!”
Morgan is the latest celebrity to speak out about using Ozempic, which is a medication meant for people with type 2 diabetes for glycemic control, but has recently become a go-to tool for stars who want to drop pounds quickly.
“Like a year ago, I tried it. I was one of those people that felt so sick and couldn’t play with my son. I was so skinny and he’s throwing a ball at me and [I couldn’t],” Amy Schumer said of the drug during a June appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “And you’re like, ‘OK, this isn’t livable for me.’ But I immediately invested because I knew everyone was going to try it.”
The Real Housewives of Orange County star Emily Simpson exclusively told Us Weekly in July that she used Ozempic in December 2022.
“It was great for my diet,” Simpson, 47, explained. “It really just kickstarted me into eating better and eating healthier ’cause it makes you feel like crap ’cause nothing tastes good.”
Simpson later switched up her eating habits and started a rigorous fitness routine to see even bigger results. “The thing that bothers me the most is that when people comment on the way that I look, they constantly say, ‘Ozempic, Ozempic.’ And it’s like, yes, I did use that nine months ago or however many months ago it was,” she said. “But I don’t like that it discounts all the hard work I put in. I don’t care if you say that all you want, but at least gimme credit for seven days a week, getting up at 6 a.m. every morning and busting my butt in the gym every single day.”
Several other Housewives have talked about Ozempic, including Kyle Richards, who denied in May that her slim down was due to taking the medicine. Heather Dubrow, for her part, exclusively told Us on August 9 that it’s no one’s “business” who is taking the drug.
“I’m over this whole Ozempic-shaming thing, and I’m also over people asking, ‘Are you on Ozempic?’” Dubrow, 54, explained. “Would you ask someone, ‘Are you on a beta-blocker? Cholesterol? What are your statins? What’s that looking like?’ It’s private medical information.”