Oprah Winfrey resigned from the WeightWatchers board after almost 10 years to avoid a conflict of interest.
During her appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” last week, Winfrey explained why she stepped down ahead of her upcoming special, “An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution.”
“I decided [to leave the WeightWatchers board] because this special was really important to me, and I wanted to be able to talk about whatever I want to talk about,” Winfrey said. “And WeightWatchers is now in the business of being a weight-health company that also administers drug medications for weight. I did not want to have the appearance of any conflict of interest.”
The media mogul continued, saying that when she resigned she donated all of her shares to the National Museum of African American History.
Winfrey added of her decision to leave, “So nobody can say ‘Oh, she’s doing that special, she’s making money, promoting [it],’ no, you cannot say that.”
The special, airing on ABC, is Winfrey’s first in 13 years, and comes after she revealed she was using weight-loss medication last year.
