Serena Williams has officially hopped on the weight loss drug bandwagon, but has taken it a step even further than other celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Sharon Osbourne. The tennis champion is the new face of Ro, a healthcare company that provides GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy. While no one’s blaming her for wanting to lose weight, the language she used to promote the drug raised some red flags for fans. As did the realization that Serena’s husband, Alexis Ohanian, is a board member for Ro. Keep reading for more information.
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Serena Williams Endorses Weight Loss Drug
The mother-of-two shared a joint post on Instagram with Ro’s official account. “Yes, I’m on Ro,” the video began. “They say GLP-1s for weight loss is a short cut. It’s not—it’s science. After kids, it’s the medicine my body needed. GLP-1s helped me lose 31 pounds.”
It’s not so much that Serena took weight loss medication that upset fans. In fact, it was a great move to help erase the stigma around weight loss drugs to show that even one of the greatest athletes of all time may need support in their weight loss journey. Speaking to Women’s Health, Serena confirmed this. “I am a very good use case of how you can do everything—eat healthy, work out to the point of even playing a professional sport and getting to the finals of Wimbledon and US Opens—and still not be able to lose weight.”
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What Ro and Serena did wrong here was imply that Serena needed to lose weight—she said it herself: she's eating healthy, she's exercising; maybe she didn't need to lose weight. In her ad, she referenced that her body "needed" the weight loss drug in order to lose weight after having children. This what gave fans some pause. An icon, a role model, an incredible athlete promoting a message that women need to be smaller.
And that's not even the end of things. Internet detectives quickly found out that Serena's husband, Alexis Ohanian, who she married in 2017, sits on the board for Ro and is an investor in the company. Smells a little fishy, no?
Social Media Reactions
Serena's fans were quick to express their disappointment in the comment section of her latest ad. "Fantastic, now we can undo all the progression we made on letting women know it's okay to take time, recover, and get back in shape—or not," one person commented.
"What a terrible message to the youth," another person wrote.
"The messaging here is so wrong coming from an athlete like her and very dangerous for society," agreed a third user.
"What Serena is really saying here: it doesn’t matter how successful, powerful, or strong you are — if you’re not thin, it doesn’t matter," another comment reads. "That’s so sad."
"As an athlete and an influencer, it's a shame that you're reiterating the narrative that you need to take medication to be healthy and achieve an acceptable standard of beauty," said another person. "This video made me really sad and disappointed."
"And no reference to the fact that your husband has poured money into this company," a final person commented. "Shame on you both!"
