The CEO of WW, the weight loss company also known as WeightWatchers, apologized to a body positivity advocate for the company\u2019s role in contributing to \u2018toxic\u2019 diet culture in the past.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, WW CEO Sima Sistani posted an Instagram story video directly addressing influencer Katie Sturino, author of \u201cBody Talk: How to Embrace Your Body and Start Living Your Best Life\u201d and founder of Megababe Beauty. <\/p>\n
Sturino, who has built a following of more than 802,000 on Instagram, had posted her \u2018unfiltered thoughts\u2019 about \u201cAn Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution,\u2019 which aired on ABC on Monday. Oprah Winfrey, who served as a member of the WW board for almost a decade, used the program to discuss the impact of anti-obesity medications after confirming in December that she takes one herself. <\/p>\n
Sistani, who has served as WW\u2019s CEO since 2022, was among those present for the special\u2019s taping. The company announced last year that it would offer prescription weight-loss drugs and launched a new membership plan for members taking GLP-1 prescriptions drugs such as\u00a0Ozempic and Wegovy.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking of WeightWatchers, they had the CEO of WeightWatchers on the program for like 30 seconds last night and she got so close to apologizing on behalf of WeightWatchers,\u201d Sturino said in her video. \u201cShe got so close to saying, \u2018We really got this wrong and we\u2019re sorry for saying it was just willpower, or that like one body is worse than the other, and we\u2019re sorry for all the toxic things we put into diet culture.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Sistani said that she saw Sturino\u2019s message and \u2018couldn\u2019t stop thinking about what she posted,\u2019 which she described as \u2018a really brave discussion about Oprah\u2019s special on ABC.\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd she noted that I participated and that I came this close to apologizing,\u2019 Sistani said. \u2018Katie, I want you to know I am sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Part of that is acknowledging the past where we played any part in the shame that people carry with them, and, so, Katie, thank you for engaging in this discussion so productively,\u2019 she added.<\/p>\n
She also addressed \u2018every Katie whose out there who hasn\u2019t heard this message,\u2019 saying \u2018it is important for me that you hear it because we can only start to hope for advocacy and health equity when we address our internalized bias.\u201d<\/p>\n
During Winfrey\u2019s special, Sistani was asked to discuss WW\u2019s past. She said the company previously focused on behaviors, but didn\u2019t take into account the role biology plays for some people when it comes to weight loss. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor all those people who took on the behavior change, some of them walked away without the success,\u201d Sistani said during the special. \u201cAnd to those people, I want to say it\u2019s not your fault.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a Zoom interview with NBC News on Thursday, Sturino said that she was \u2018completely shocked\u2019 by the apology, but called it \u2018a really powerful thing.\u2019<\/p>\n
Nothing about this conversation is perfect, but at least we\u2019re trying to have it in a civil way, because it\u2019s a really complicated conversation \u2014 the topics of weight loss, drugs, and diet culture.\n<\/p>\n
-katie sturino, in a zoom interview with nbc news<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018I just feel so grateful that I am in this position, especially because <\/strong>there\u2019s been so much conversation about how body positivity is over and how this is just the Ozempic age and it\u2019s all about being thin,\u2019 she said. \u2018I feel so good to be able to engage with someone like WeightWatchers and then bring relief, a slight relief, to so many people together.\u2019<\/p>\n In regard to conversations surrounding weight loss that are happening across platforms right now, Sturino said \u2018there\u2019s a lot of power in being vulnerable right now on the internet.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Nothing about this conversation is perfect, but at least we\u2019re trying to have it in a civil way, because it\u2019s a really complicated conversation \u2014 the topics of weight loss, drugs, and diet culture,\u2019 she said. <\/p>\n Sturino also shared her emotional reaction to Sistani\u2019s apology in an Instagram video Thursday. <\/p>\n \u201cDoes this make up for all of the damage done? No. But to me, it felt like a real win for our community,\u201d Sturino wrote in the caption. \u201cAcknowledgment I don\u2019t think I ever thought would come.\u201d<\/p>\n