The Academy Award-winning actress refuted claims that, after shedding 100 pounds over the course of seven years, she depended on Ozempic to help her lose weight.
Although Bates, 76, acknowledged using the drug, she said that she did the mental and physical labor alone.
She mentioned that she had started losing weight years prior, having already dropped 80 pounds before turning to Ozempic to help her drop an additional 20 pounds.
Bates told People magazine, “There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic.”
But I have to impress upon people out there that this was hard work for me, especially during the pandemic. It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough.”
The “Matlock” star was inspired to take charge of her health after she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2017.
I ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem,” she said. “[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I’d seen what my father had gone through. He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight.