Chelsea Handler revealed she didn’t realize she was taking Ozempic, a drug meant for diabetes.
“So my anti-aging doctor just hands it out to anybody, right? Obviously, now I can’t say her name, but I didn’t even know I was on it,” the Chelsea Lately alum, 47, claimed on the Tuesday, January 24, episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.
While speaking to host Alex Cooper, Handler alleged her doctor said the medication was good if she wanted “to drop five pounds.” At the time, Handler knew she was taking Semaglutide, which is another name for Ozempic. She had no idea they were the same thing until a friend enlightened her.
“I came back from a vacation and I injected myself with it,” the former Chelsea host recalled. “I went to lunch with a girlfriend a few days later, and she was like, ‘I’m not really eating anything. I’m so nauseous, I’m on Ozempic.’ I was like, ‘I’m kind of nauseous too.’ But I had just come back from Spain and I thought I was jet-lagged. I had been there for like a month. White privilege.”
Handler told her friend at the time that she wasn’t on the medication but asked the comedian if she was sure. The “Dear Chelsea” podcast host told her pal that she was taking Semaglutide, to which the friend responded, “That’s Ozempic.”
Handler described the medication as “a miracle” that’s “too good to be true.” However, the New Jersey native revealed she still has the medication in her house still, but she no longer takes it.
“I’m not on it anymore. That’s too irresponsible,” she clarified. “I’m an irresponsible drug user, but I’m not gonna take a diabetic drug. I tried it, and I’m not gonna do that. That’s not for me. That’s not right for me.”
The prescription meant for diabetes patients has made headlines with various Hollywood stars allegedly using it for weight loss. Kyle Richards and Khloé Kardashian have both denied using it.
Meanwhile, Rosie O’Donnell shared that she lost 10 pounds since the holiday thanks to some lifestyle changes and medication she has been taking. While the League of Our Own actress is diabetic, she explained that she was not on Ozempic but a different kind of medicine for her condition.
“And my appetite has decreased significantly, it’s probably the meds,” she shared via TikTok on January 18. “And I’m trying to move more. So you know all those things combined, that’s what it is.”