Overview
- Winfrey discussed the incident on The View while promoting her new book, Enough: Your Health, Your Weight, and What It’s Like To Be Free, co‑written with Dr. Ania M. Jastreboff.
- She recalled Rivers telling her, “Shame, shame, shame,” during a 1985 Tonight Show appearance and saying she could return if she lost 15 pounds.
- Winfrey said she internalized years of ridicule, describing weekly tabloid mockery over two decades and a long period of self‑blame about her weight.
- She noted that playing Sofia in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple felt empowering because the character “owned the weight,” offering rare comfort with her body at the time.
- Winfrey advocated broader access to GLP‑1 medications and pressed insurers to recognize and cover obesity as a chronic disease, citing her experience with reduced “food noise.”