Serena Williams has come under fire from famed body image speaker, Alex Light, for how the American tennis icon has spoken about her weight loss using medication. Light weighed in on the ‘endorsement’ of a weight-loss drug by Williams, raising concerns about the wider impact.
Body image campaigner, Light, has voiced strong criticism of Williams’ decision to front a campaign for a weight-loss drug, calling the move “jarring” and potentially damaging.
Light, who has built a following of over 624,000 on Instagram, argued that while Williams has every right to make personal health choices, endorsing medication through a ‘glossy’ campaign carries wider cultural consequences. She pointed to the impact of a global icon like Williams attaching her name to such a product.
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"When someone with Serena’s cultural weight endorses a drug like Ozempic, it normalizes its use on a mass scale," Light said in an Instagram video.
She noted how even at the peak of discipline and performance, Williams could not lose weight. Light expressed concern that Williams’ words risk setting a troubling standard.
"It risks telling women everywhere that even if your body is capable of feats beyond imagination, it still isn’t good enough unless it’s smaller," Light added
She explained that even if a body is capable of achieving extraordinary feats, such as reaching Grand Slam finals and competing at the highest level, it is portrayed as inadequate unless it is made smaller.
In her view, marketing weight-loss drugs in this way risks turning serious medication into lifestyle accessories, feeding insecurities instead of promoting balanced health.
Serena Williams opens up on using GLP-1 with Ro, tying her weight-loss journey to husband Alexis Ohanian’s health startup
Serena Williams has opened up about using a GLP-1 weight-loss medication through the telehealth company Ro, saying she turned to it after years of disciplined training and healthy eating still left her above a personal plateau.
In an interview with Vogue, she said:
"My whole life is being in the gym, working out, running, training, HIIT training, dancing, every single thing you can think of. I would always get to a certain point on the scale, but I could never get below that. That’s when I decided that it was time to try something different and got on the GLP-1 with Ro."
Williams frames the decision as both health-driven and stigma-reducing.
"I was putting in the work. I actually think it’s a problem a lot of other women can relate to, that you are in the gym and eating healthy, but just can’t get to the level you want or need to. I feel lighter mentally, I feel sexier, I feel more confident,” Serena Williams added.
She attributes a 31-pound loss to medication paired with exercise and continued training. Her partnership also has a personal business link as Ro counts her husband, Alexis Ohanian, among its early backers, and he has served on the company’s board.
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