Oprah Winfrey leaving WeightWatchers’ board of directors after trying weight-loss drug

Oprah Winfrey is stepping away from WeightWatchers’ board of directors, where she’s served since 2015.

The weight-loss company announced in a statement Wednesday that the 70-year-old entrepreneur would not seek re-election to the board when shareholders meet in May, though Winfrey said she plans to continue to “advise and collaborate” with WeightWatchers.

“Weight Health is a critically important topic and one that needs to be addressed at a broader scale,” Winfrey added. “I plan to participate in a number of public forums and events where I will be a vocal advocate in advancing this conversation.”

The longtime TV personality also announced that she will donate her stake in WeightWatchers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington D.C. Forbes puts Winfrey’s worth at just under $3 billion.

Winfrey surprised fans in December by confessing that after years of trying to shed unwanted pounds and keep them off, she’d found success with weight-loss drugs.

“The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift,” she told People magazine. “And not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for.”

She’d become noticeably slimmer during press events for her film “The Color Purple,” which hit theaters late last year.

WeightWatchers said its board of directors supported Winfrey’s proposal to donate her stock in the company to the NMAAHC and claimed that divestment should “eliminate any perceived conflict of interest around her taking weight loss medications.”

In 2017, Winfrey credited WeightWatchers with helping her lose 45 lbs.

“Everyone is different, but for me what’s worked is Weight Watchers,” Winfrey said on her website. “It’s given me the freedom I crave. I haven’t had to sacrifice foods I love. Or feel deprived and punished.”

WeightWatchers’ stock price dropped 25% in premarket value Thursday morning.