Rosie O’Donnell says a GLP-1 medication reshaped not only her health, but also the way she sees herself after decades of weight struggles.
Speaking to PEOPLE, the 64-year-old actress and comedian shared that she began taking Mounjaro three years ago following a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Since then, she said she has lost close to 60 pounds.
Mounjaro, whose active ingredient is tirzepatide, is a prescription medication approved for adults with type 2 diabetes and is part of the newer class of glucose-regulating drugs that can also affect appetite and cravings. A related tirzepatide brand, Zepbound, is approved for chronic weight management in adults with obesity or certain adults with overweight and at least one weight-related condition, alongside diet and exercise.
“Mounjaro changed my life,” O’Donnell said. “I couldn’t even pronounce it at first. I was stunned at how it quieted the food noise.”
O’Donnell explained that weight had been a challenge for her for as long as she can remember, and she described the emotional burden that came with it in both her personal life and public career.
“I know the shame and humiliation dealt to people who are overweight,” she said. “My kids would come home from trick-or-treating with pillowcases full of candy and hide it. Smart children. I’d wake up at 3 in the morning and go, ‘There’s a Nestlé’s Crunch bar somewhere.’ I couldn’t help myself.”
She also looked back on one moment from the set of A League of Their Own, when director Penny Marshall told her to lose 20 pounds during production. At the time, O’Donnell said, it felt impossible because she did not believe she had control over her body size.
“I’m like, ‘You think I carry it around for fun, Penny?'” she said.
Now, she says her perspective has shifted. O’Donnell admitted she wishes she had shown herself more compassion then, especially because she has since returned to that same weight under very different circumstances.
“I’m now at that same weight,” she said. “But I feel much healthier, more powerful in my own physicality.”
She said the change has shown up in ordinary moments too, including something as basic as shopping for clothes that fit properly, which she described as an unfamiliar experience.
“It’s very strange to just buy a pair of jeans that fit,” she said. “When I would do late-night, my biggest concern wasn’t my set, it was, did I look fat?”
After losing weight, O’Donnell said she opted for a deep plane facelift because of excess skin that she felt gave her a ‘sad’ appearance. She said she spent about six months debating whether to go through with it, in part because she questioned whether it aligned with her feminist beliefs, before concluding that “the real power of feminism [is] to decide what we want to do with our bodies and when.”
According to O’Donnell, she decided to speak honestly about both the medication and the cosmetic procedure once people began asking what had changed.
“I didn’t want to be one of those people who says, ‘Oh, nothing,'” she said.
Looking back on the experience, O’Donnell said she feels more at ease in her own skin at 64 than she did in earlier years, and that she is thankful for the perspective the journey has brought her.