When Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s daughter, Gracie McGraw posted a recent photo of herself in a bikini, a fellow social media user took it as an opportunity to make an assumption about McGraw — but McGraw chose to do something unexpected. She came clean about a vulnerable, personal bit of health information.
McGraw captioned her photo “It’s a gorgeous day for narcissism!”, and a user chose to comment “and Ozempic!” Let’s get clear about one thing: Speculating about someone’s body in this way is not okay. But McGraw took the moment and turned it into a chance to cut through some of the stigmas around Ozempic and similar drugs.
Gracie McGraw says she has taken Ozempic, Mounjaro for PCOS
“I did use Ozempic last year, yes. I am now on a low dose of Mounjaro for my PCOS as well as working out. No need to accuse when I have been open about it,” McGraw replied.
Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, all of which are in the same class of drugs, can all lead to weight loss. While Ozempic is the drug that’s become a Hollywood buzzword in the past year or so, Wegovy is actually the drug that has an FDA indication for weight loss in clinically obese patients.
Because several celebrities have opened up about using these drugs — and because we’ve all heard statements like “everyone in entertainment is on Ozempic”, we’ve all begun to think of these drugs as vanity solutions for privileged people who want to become hyper-thin. Despite the stereotype, these drugs are legitimate medications. Ozempic and Mounjaro are used to treat diabetes — and the stigma around these drugs is unfair to people who take them for legitimate medical reasons.
Upon seeing McGraw’s admission, several commenters jumped to her defense. “PCOS sucks. Insulin resistance, weight gain, ovarian cysts and polyps, hair growth on the face and other odd areas.. plus a ton of other issues. I’m super glad she was able to get access to a great medication to help out!” one person wrote. Another added: “Ew!!! those of with PCOS finally have SOMETHING, anything to help with the metabolism and other hormonal issues we face. STFU.”
By admitting that she’s on a drug within this class, McGraw is making a brave admission about something many people keep secret. But it’s bigger than that: McGraw is highlighting something people often forget about these drugs: They’re medications that some people actually need to control their health.
PCOS affects an estimated 1 in 10 women, and — like most women’s health issues — treating the condition can be complicated, with no real one-size-fits-all solution. As some of the comments suggest, the symptoms associated with PCOS can be brutal — on top of infertility and painful ovarian cysts, there are physical symptoms that can do a real number on a person’s self-esteem, such as excess hair growth on the face, acne, and yes, weight gain. There’s nothing wrong with any of those things of course, and body and skin changes are normal parts of life. At the same, seeing your appearance change suddenly can be a difficult aspect of this condition. A number of women with PCOS have reported success in managing their symptoms with drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro.
Last year, McGraw opened up about her PCOS diagnosis. “I just wanted to share really quick that I have recently been diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome),” she said, according to People. “To get the correct diagnosis you would need 2 out of the 5 characteristics of PCOS and I had 4. During my appointment with my endocrinologist, I realized that may have been a factor in my issues with weight, so we decided to try a medicine to regulate my body more normally and create the tools to continue to keep my body and myself healthy as I get older.”
It seems as though McGraw has settled on a medication plan that works best for her individual case with her doctor, and that’s what matters here.
But on the whole, this is a complicated issue. There’s no denying that Ozempic is being used as a vanity drug in many cases, with people who don’t actually need the drug taking it just for weight loss purposes, and that’s problematic. By normalizing these drugs as weight loss solutions, we’re taking an already stifling set of beauty standards and moving them in the wrong direction. It’s particularly frustrating right now, as we’ve finally started seeing a more inclusive set of standards that acknowledges that all bodies are good bodies.
But at the same time, we don’t know about McGraw’s health, nor do we know about the health status of any other celebrity who receives Ozempic speculation. We don’t know why someone may have lost weight, we don’t know why someone is taking this particular type of drug, and we don’t know what’s best for people we’ve never even met.
Zara Hanawalt is a freelance journalist and mom of twins. She's written for outlets like Parents, Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Motherly, and many others. In her (admittedly limited!) free time, she enjoys cooking, reading, trying new restaurants, and traveling with her family.