Emily Brown
Mum-of-three Jessica Simpson has responded to claims she's been taking the diabetes drug Ozempic to lose weight.
Speculation about Simpson's weight loss began to swirl after she appeared in an advert for Pottery Barn Kids last year, when fans claimed there was 'something wrong' with the way she looked and sounded.
"What happened to her!?!?!," one person questioned, while another wrote: "She doesn’t seem ok.."
Simpson has previously opened up about her struggles with her weight in her memoir, Open Book, when she described being told she had to lose 1.1 stone (15lbs) as she began a new record deal when she was 17-years-old.
The singer, who is 5’3″, weighed 8st 4lbs (118 lbs) at the time, and recalled how she 'immediately went on an extremely strict diet, and started taking diet pills'.
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Simpson said this extreme method of dieting continued for 'the next 20 years', with her admission prompting some to wonder whether Simpson, now 42, may still be using pills to aid her weight loss.
Some Instagram users speculated the singer was taking Ozempic; a diabetes medicine which can be used with diet and exercise to treat adults with type 2 diabetes.
However, Simpson has now hit back at the accusations in an interview with Bustle, when she responded: “Oh Lord. I mean, it is not [pills]."
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She continued: "It’s willpower. I’m like, do people want me to be drinking again? Because that’s when I was heavier. Or they want me to be having another baby? My body can’t do it.”
Simpson went on to admit that it 'hurts' to put herself back in the public eye and open herself up to judgement, but added: "Am I going to let the negativity derail me? No, I’m too old for that. I am too connected to myself right now to let that derail me. It doesn't mean that it doesn’t hurt.”
Over her 40 years, Simpson said she was 'fortunate to have been every size' through her various life experiences, which include hormonal changes and side effects from psychiatric medications.
“For [my] brand, understanding the women [who buy our products], and for my psyche," she said.
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Simpson previously hit back at comments about her looks shortly after the Pottery Barn video was posted, when she shared a post saying she had 'learned to block out destructive noise'.
She added: "Peoples’ comments and judgements can still hurt deeply with their incessant nagging 'you will never be good enough'. The most important thing I have learned through the last 5yrs without alcohol being a guard for escapism, is that I CAN and ALWAYS WILL get through it."