Kathy Bates Has a Bold Message for Her Weight Loss Critics

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Kathy Bates is clapping back at critics who say her 100-pound weight loss was a result of Ozempic.

The 77-year-old “Matlock” star, who shed the pounds gradually over a seven-year period in an effort to manage her Type 2 diabetes, told Variety she bristles when people dismiss the hard work she put in to get healthy.

“People say, ‘Well, it was the Ozempic.’ F— you, it was the Ozempic! It took me years to do this. I got this diagnosis about diabetes — my father died of it; his mother died of it; one of my sisters is in peril. When they said ‘diabetes,’ I figured out what to do to slowly, over years, to lose the weight.”

“And then when Ozempic came along, I was able to lose the last 15 to 20 pounds and keep it off,” she said.

Bates added that the”juxtaposition” of her weight loss and the success of “Matlock” is “just unbelievable.”

“I finally feel like I’m who I am,” she said. “I’ve fought my way through the rapids. I feel this is the best time of my life. I’m glad I stuck around for it!”

Bates also shared how she got emotional when her stylist presented her with several glamorous dresses sent over by designers just in time for the 2025 Emmy Awards on Sept. 14.

“She had a beautiful dress for me to try. I looked at it on the hanger, and I thought, ‘That’s not gonna fit.’ I put it on, and it fit, and I just melted down,” said Bates, who’s nominated for a best lead actress in a drama series for her role on “Matlock.”

“I just started crying and crying. I’m still figuring out what it’s like to be without all of that weight. What was it for? What was I hiding myself from? What are the emotions that are pouring out because I don’t have that armor? It just really surprised me, really shocked me.”

Bates has previously shared details about her weight loss.

In October 2024, she told People she lost most of the weight — about 80 pounds — after changing her diet and exercise habits to deal with her diabetes diagnosis. Then she started taking Ozempic, which helped her lose the rest of the weight.

Bates realized she had to rethink her relationship with food, so she began asking herself how and why she ate the foods she ate. “I ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem,” she told People.

She began paying closer attention to the foods she ate. “I used to eat terribly: burgers and Cokes and pizza,” she said.

She also started an exercise routine. “I have a treadmill here at the house, and I might try Pilates,” she said. “People always ask, ‘Don’t you want a trainer?’ No, I really don’t. I don’t want anybody over my shoulder.

“It’s just very important to me to keep this going. I don’t want to slip,” she added.

A survivor of both breast cancer and ovarian cancer, Bates told People she was motivated to make the changes she needed to because she saw firsthand the damage caused by diabetes.

“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,” she said.

The same month, Bates also opened up about the focus it took to get healthier during an Oct. 2024 appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show.”

“You know, they always say, ‘Oh, you don’t have enough willpower.’ I just changed that word to determination. It was my choice,” she said.

She added that she’s now happier and more confident than ever.

“The thing that’s most interesting is that my getting healthy just by chance came at the same time as getting the script for ‘Matlock.’ And so I was ready to do it. I feel like I can move and walk and breathe and all of those things that I couldn’t do before.”

“It’s like every day, there’s a new experience that makes me feel good about what I’ve accomplished, and I feel different,” she added.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com