Whoopi Goldberg Warns of AI Likeness Used to Sell Weight Loss Drug

Whoopi Goldberg is the latest Hollywood celebrity to have her likeness exploited in AI-generated scams to deceive others. But unlike Brad Pitt whose image was used to scam a French woman into thinking she was in a relationship with the actor or Sandra Bullock with fake accounts impersonating her for financial gain, Goldberg’s likeness was used to sell a weight-loss drug.  

During an earlier episode of The View this week, Goldberg said, “I’m giving everybody a heads up. There’s a phony weight loss ad floating around online on Instagram that has me, AI-mouthed, saying all kinds of stuff.”   

The Sister Act actress added, “You know I don’t sell anything unless I say, ‘Hey, it’s me Whoopi,’ that’s how you know it’s me. They took something from CBS Sunday Morning and melded it and they have me selling bad weight-loss drugs.”  

Goldberg also mentioned how she was honest in taking weight-loss drugs in the past. According to People, Goldberg shared, “I will tell you, I weighed almost 300 lbs. when I made Till,” a biographical movie about the abduction and lynching of Emmett Till. Goldberg played Till’s grandmother, Alma Cartha. “I had taken all those steroids, I was on all this stuff,” referring to her last year’s diagnosis of pneumonia in both lungs and sepsis. “And one of the things that’s helped me dropped the weight was the Mounjaro. That’s what I used.”  

She reiterated it was the only drug she took. Saying of the ad, “This stuff? I don’t know who these people are. That’s the problem with AI. You don’t know who made it, but I’m telling you, it’s a lot of BS. Do not fall for it.”  

Mounjaro, similar to Ozempic, was used for weight loss even if its intended use is for the treatment of serious diseases and not for cosmetic reasons. Mounjaro is recommended for those with type 2 diabetes to help improve their blood sugar level.  

Dr. Dan Azagury, FACS, the chief bariatric surgeon and medical director of Stanford University School of Medicine’s Lifestyle and Weight Management Clinic in California in an interview with Healthline said, “We tell our patients that if they start the drug they should do so being comfortable with the idea of staying on it forever. Because often when you stop there is a rebound effect. In particular, if you stop abruptly. Patients who take this just to lose 5 to 10 pounds and stop will then likely regain 10 to 15 pounds, leading to worse long-term outcomes and a yo-yo effect that is unfavorable.”