Bella Thorne is speaking out against the Ozempic craze.
Days after sharing a video via her Instagram stories in which she admitted she was not “feeling good” about her body, especially with “everybody on Ozempic,” Thorne, 26, opened up to Us Weekly exclusively about the “crazy” beauty standards it promotes.
“We’ve [made] so much progress in the body realm of self love and what is beautiful and what makes beautiful,” she explained while promoting her partnership with Illicit Elixirs. “It … just feels like we’ve taken so many years, so many steps backwards with a craze.”
Celebrities have spoken out on both sides of the Ozempic issue, with some talking about how the drug — which is meant to treat Type 2 diabetes — has helped them lose weight. Others, like Thorne, are pointing to the issues that widespread use of the drug can present.
“I just don’t think it’s good,” she said. “Whatever age you are, but especially a lot of the younger generation growing up, those are the times where they’re first understanding what beautiful means and how people perceive beautiful. It’s just so incredibly unfortunate. I’m hoping that that really dies down and goes away and we can go back to the progress that we’ve made accepting all types of bodies.”
In case her stance wasn’t clear, Thorne left no room for doubt at the end of her Instagram video.
“I have swam every day and I have sweat out everything possible and I have walked everywhere. And, I’m finally feeling good about myself, okay? I’m finally feeling good, so Ozempic, you can f–k off,” she said, giving her camera the middle finger.
Thorne won’t be promoting Ozempic this summer, but will gladly go to bat for Illicit Elixirs. The beverage supports dopamine production without the use of artificial flavors, caffeine of CBS/THC. Thorne worked with the brand to develop her very own Naughty Behavior Citrus flavor, which includes blood orange, prickly pear and other real fruit juices.
“I definitely wanted something that was on the tarter side,” Thorne explained about creating her signature flavor. “I don’t like sweet drinks .… They mixed the blood orange and I was like, ‘Oh, hell yeah.’ I love it and the color was so important to me.”
Thorne knew what she wanted, from the design of the can to the taste of the drink. The health benefits, from increased dopamine production to supporting improved brain function, drew a stark contrast to her video decrying the dangers of Ozempic.
They got vitamins and antioxidants, amino acids, Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6, saffron, they’ve got so much in there that are all proven to support dopamine production,” she said.
With reporting by Travis Cronin.
