Al Roker is defending Kelly Clarkson.
After the "Breakaway" singer made headlines after sharing she used weight loss medication after being diagnosed as pre-diabetic, the Today show co-anchor addressed her critics directly.
"There's too much judgment going on," Roker said during the show's third hour May 14. "People, as long as they're working with their doctors and being healthy about it, people ought to just back off and let them live their lives."
And Roker, who underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2002 and then lost 100 pounds in the subsequent months, reflected on how his own experience shaped his perspective.
"As somebody who's fought with this," he said on Today. "Listen, I took a raft of stuff when I had bypass surgery. It's not easy, whatever you do. So get off people's backs."
Clarkson had first shared insight into her weight loss journey in January. "I eat a healthy mix. I dropped weight because I've been listening to my doctor," she told People. "And 90 percent of the time I'm really good at it because a protein diet is good for me anyway. I'm a Texas girl, so I like meat—sorry, vegetarians in the world!"
Later that month, while recalling what led to her weight loss journey, the "Since U Been Gone" singer said on her talk show that she was told she pre-diabetic. "I wasn't shocked," she added. "I was a tiny bit overweight."
On the May 13 episode of the Kelly Clarkson Show, she addressed rumors that she also used a medication to slim down.
"Everybody thinks it's Ozempic. It's not," she said, "but it's something that aids in helping break down the sugar—obviously my body doesn't do it right."
(E! and Today are part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Read on to find out what more stars have said about Ozempic and other weight loss medications...