The Mindy Kaling Ozempic Comments Shows That We’ve Found A New Toxic Way To Police Womens’ Bodies

Trigger Warning: Weight Loss and Extreme Dieting.

Awards season culminated last night at the Oscars. The 95th Academy Awards brought together all the biggest names in Hollywood and abroad to celebrate the extraordinary talent that the film industry has displayed over the past year.

Yes, while it's an opportunity to celebrate success and achievement, it's sadly always accompanied by discussions about women's appearance – especially their bodies.

This year was no exception, except that the conversation was also interrupted by the growing focus on Ozempic — a treatment routinely used to treat type 2 diabetes but now being repurposed for weight loss due to its appetite-suppressing side effects. Social media users have flooded the comment sections of various celebrities suggesting they have been using Ozempic to lose weight. One of them is The Office US star Mindy Kaling.

The actress is thought to have lost 40 pounds over the past few years and has been open about her weight loss.she told entertainment tonight Last April, she “eats what she likes,” adding, “If I do any kind of restrictive diet, it never really works for me.” I just eat less.

She continued, “I wish there was more energy in the way I lost a little weight, but that's how I did it.”

Mindy Kaling © Getty

Mindy, 43, looked stunning at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles last night in a white Vera Wang gown, which she later switched to a black version before changing into an floor-length metallic gown at the Vanity Pair party. But instead of boosting her, social media has been flooded with damaging comments about Ozempic.

Someone speculated, ‘Ozempic made Mindy Kaling look like that. How likely is it that my doctor will let me try it?

A second tweet read, ‘My God is Mindy Kaling on Ozempic? ! ? ! WOOOOWWWWW! She looks like someone else! She's beautiful both big and small, but I don't think I've seen her in a while.

“Lord, just give me what Mindy Kaling has: a prescription for ozone,” wrote a third.

Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel even included a joke about the drug in his opening monologue.

‘Everyone looked great. As I look around the room, I can't help but wonder, “Is Ozempic right for me?” he said.

According to Health Express, Ozempic comes in a prefilled pen that you only need to self-inject once a week. You can also get the medicine in tablet form.

There was so much debate about the side effects that the term “Ozempic face” was coined to refer to the “facial aging, including haggardness and sagging skin,” that the drug could cause.

Mindy isn't the first celebrity to find herself at the center of Ozempic's storm of speculation, with Megan Thee Stallion, Ava DuVernay and Kyle Richards all involved in the Oscars story.

With searches for “Mindy Kaling before and after photos” skyrocketing, all that can be drawn is that the noise surrounding women's bodies is only getting louder, and new ways of talking about them are entering the public sphere at an alarming rate.

Activist Alex Light discusses issues surrounding Ozempic discourse Harper's Bazaarsays, “Ozempic isn’t the only weight-related content thriving on TikTok — the platform is full of weight-loss tips, body transformations, ‘what do I eat in a day’ videos, and most worryingly, body-check videos .

Women have been under unbearable pressure to look a certain way for centuries. Gossiping about what they might have done to lose weight when we don't know anything is harmful — and sets us back. It's a toxic cycle that needs to be broken – but sadly it feels like the ozone story is only picking up the pace.