THE SHOW MUST GO ON

People Say GLP-1s Are Wrecking Their Careers in Weird New Ways

The popular weight-loss drugs are taking a toll on performers.

Hollywood’s GLP-1 era is no longer just changing waistlines. It’s changing how performers do their jobs.

As the popular weight-loss drugs become a fixture among celebrities, the folks keeping shows and productions running say they are adapting to appetite changes and side effects that can follow performers into rehearsals, fittings, and grueling workdays.

And the pool of people who may bring those effects to work is growing fast. Eleven percent of U.S. adults said they currently use a GLP-1 medication for weight loss in 2026, up from just 3 percent in 2024, according to a Gallup survey released in July.

Aimée Steele, a production vocal coach whose Broadway credits include Buena Vista Social Club and Girl from the North Country, told Women’s Health that she’s seen the pharmaceutical boom show up in performers’ voices.

“We were dealing with dry mouth and vocal cord gravel way back when,” Steele said. “It used to be the SSRI dryness, then decongestant dryness. Now it’s GLP-1 dryness.”

Steele said she has also seen nausea, acid reflux, and fatigue among performers using the drugs, especially during a demanding show schedule.

“You’re doing eight shows a week, you’re dehydrated, your body’s not possibly getting the nutrients, the vitamins, and the enrichment it needs, so the fatigue just comes right in,” she said.

Those potentially career-halting side effects overlap with known adverse reactions to the popular weight-loss drugs. Wegovy’s prescribing information lists nausea, vomiting, constipation, fatigue, and gastroesophageal reflux disease among its most common side effects.

Comedian Amy Schumer, 45, has described just how debilitating that trade-off can be. She told Howard Stern in 2025 that semaglutide left her bedridden, vomiting, and without enough energy to play with her son.

“I looked great and I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow, so what’s the point?” she said.

Singer Macy Gray, 59, also described struggling while filming MTV’s The Surreal Life in 2024, saying Ozempic left her constipated and awake with stomach pain.

The ripple effects can extend beyond the talent.

Kinyarda Wright, owner of Around the Clock Craft Services, told Women’s Health she has noticed more leftover food and crews gravitating toward smaller, protein-heavy options. On a Gucci campaign shoot, she said some workers skipped full meals and instead reached for foods such as apple chips and sugar snap peas.

Requests have also shifted toward keto and gluten-free options, while sugary sodas have increasingly given way to sparkling and spring water.

Costume departments may be the least shocked. Broadway costume designers James Nguyen and AC Gottlieb said adjusting garments around fluctuating bodies has always been part of the job, whether the cause is pregnancy, rehearsals, muscle gain, or weight loss.

Los Angeles registered dietitian Ashley Koff told the outlet performers and athletes still need to fuel demanding schedules. She recalled NBA coaches telling her that some players taking the drugs were struggling to eat enough, prompting closer attention to hydration, sleep, recovery, and injection timing.

Play Video

Still, for some high-profile users, the drugs have had the opposite effect on energy.

Serena Williams, 45, said she began taking Zepbound after struggling to lose weight following the birth of her second daughter despite exercising and eating well.

“When I started, I just had more energy,” Williams told SELF in January, adding that she could more easily keep up with her 2-year-old daughter, Adira.

Williams also said she felt physically better and joked that she wished she had taken a GLP-1 while she was still playing professionally.

Steele has seen a similar upside among performers.

“They feel more confident in their body, and therefore more energetic and more easily able to live out loud,” she said. “When you have a human being that feels better in their body, they’re going to feel that confidence and that mental burden that’s lifted.”

---

Tamilore OshikanluContributor

---

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.