The rose-tinted glasses are coming off.
58 minutes ago
It is undeniable that there is a visible shift across entertainment industries away from the body positivity movement, with many celebrities getting openly comfortable with promoting diet culture yet again. The trend of GLP-1 drugs such as Mounjaro and Wegovy becoming popular choices for losing weight, thanks to their appetite-suppressing characteristics, is closely intertwined with this phenomenon. While very few celebrities are being honest about the full picture, some well-known faces in the Korean entertainment industry have spoken up in recent weeks.
The star that most recently touched upon this topic is Pungja, the popular YouTuber and TV star, who became a hot topic after sharing the journey of her shedding 32 kg. The star opened up about her weight loss process, admitting that she had tried drugs like Wegovy and Saxenda, among other treatments, to address her obesity concerns. However, the side effects she experienced were so intense that she stopped and went back to the traditional way of dietary management with proper exercise to lose weight in a sustainable manner.
Pungja before and after weight loss
While Pungja didn’t go into the details of the side effects, another YouTube star, RalRal, also talked about this issue in a recent video. She shared that she had lost nearly 7 kgs in three months, and emphasized that exercising is the only “secret” behind this progress. She then confessed that she had used Wegovy and Mounjaro to lose the weight, but was left vomiting “from both ends” so severely that she stopped immediately.
RalRal | Chosun Ilbo
Kim Jun Ho, an A-list comedian, also opened up about his experience of using Wegovy to lose weight in a YouTube video. Kim admitted that he had successfully lost weight with the help of the drug right before his wedding to Kim Ji Min. However, he experienced severe rebound and gained 10 kg quickly. Another side effect he mentioned was increased irritability.
Kim Jun Ho (right) with wife Kim Ji Min | Yonhap
Thanks to such influential public figures sharing their honest experiences, there appear to be larger conversations around the safety of such appetite-suppressing pills, contributing to better awareness.