Al Roker defended Kelly Clarkson after she received backlash from fans for not being honest about using weight loss medication.
“There’s too much judgment going on,” Al, 69, said during the Today show on Tuesday, May 14. “People, as long as they’re working with their doctors and being healthy about it, people ought to just back off and let them live their lives.”
The news anchor, known for his dramatic 100-pound weight loss after gastric bypass surgery in 2002, considered how his experience influenced his viewpoint.
“As somebody who’s fought with this,” he said on camera. “Listen, I took a raft of stuff when I had bypass surgery. It’s not easy, whatever you do. So get off people’s backs.”
Kelly, 42, was at the center of controversy when she revealed she used weight loss medication to assist her with her nearly 60-pound weight loss, after originally attributing her slim physique to solely diet and exercise.
“My doctor chased me for, like, two years and I was like, ‘No, I’m afraid of it. I already have thyroid problems.’ I was afraid,” the “Since You’ve Been Gone” singer explained while speaking with Whoopi Goldberg on her talk show on Monday, May 13. “Everyone thinks it’s Ozempic. It’s not. It’s something else. But it’s something that aids in breaking down the sugar. Obviously, my body doesn’t do it right.”
After Kelly dropped the news, fans quickly took to X to call the singer out, with some users already previously suspecting she used medical help to drop the weight.
“If you needed to hear it from her first to know, you’re a dope. Months after the weight loss is noticeable. Exercise and diet my ass. These celebrities lie, making regular people feel bad about themselves,” one person wrote.
Meanwhile, another added, “We knew you were taking the drug. You should’ve just been honest in the 1st place. Imagine how we feel about all you rich privileged movie & music stars that already have much more than the rest of us buying up the RX so we can’t get it so you look good but we can’t.”
Botched star Dr. Terry Dubrow also had pointed things to say to the American Idol alum and slammed her for “Ozempic shaming.”
“I think it’s kind of honesty-adjacent. Because if you don’t want to admit to Ozempic and you want to say it’s another medication, there’s only one other medication, and that’s Mounjaro,” Terry, 65, told TMZ on Thursday, May 16, noting he’s used the drug himself. “Thank you, Kelly Clarkson, for admitting to it. I think it’s fantastic. I just want to reinforce the idea that we should normalize the use of these weight loss drugs.”
The Kelly Clarkson Show host first opened up about her weight loss journey in January, telling fans she dropped the weight because of the advice of her medical professionals.
“I eat a healthy mix. I dropped weight because I’ve been listening to my doctor,” she told People. “And 90 percent of the time I’m really good at it because a protein diet is good for me anyway. I’m a Texas girl, so I like meat — sorry, vegetarians in the world!”
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