Karen Carpenter starved herself in public; today's celebs have pharmaceutical help



“Pop singer Karen Carpenter died this morning from complications of anorexia nervosa,” said the perfectly made-up anchorwoman on KTLA while I sat at the table eating my Raisin Bran.

It was one of those bright Southern California mornings in 1983. There’s something jarring about hearing awful news in a chipper tone of voice when the sun is out and a new day is starting. Of course I was sad to hear about Karen’s death; she was that nice lady with the prettiest voice in the world who sang “the Sesame Street song.”

I fear we’re watching a replay of what happened in the 1970s and ’80s, when anorexia nervosa spread rapidly through the culture.

Sing of good things, not bad
Sing of happy, not sad

A voice from God

It wasn’t until many years later that I felt a deeper sadness and loss when I contemplated Karen Carpenter’s death at 33. She had a voice from God that comes along once in a century if we’re lucky. We had all watched her slowly kill herself right there on television. Like most deeply troubled people, Karen denied that anything was wrong, even as she sat under the interview lights as a skeleton in a sweater.

We’re seeing the same thing today in our “stars,” but unlike the early 1980s, grown-up America seems to think it’s normal. Maybe even “empowered.”

“There are rumors, though, that you were suffering from the slimmer’s disease, from anorexia nervosa. Was that right?” a British interviewer said to Karen in 1981.

“No,” said Karen, rolling her eyes inside a face that looked like a moving skull, all jagged planes and bone surfaces shining through translucent skin.

No looking away

Two years later, Karen died on the floor of her mother’s upstairs closet in Downey, California, before she made it down for breakfast. Despite having recently been treated for anorexia and gaining back a modest amount of weight, the long-term damage Karen did to her heart and organs made them give out.

And everyone knew it would. Everyone talked about it. Most adults in that era had looked on with worried skepticism at the gaunt Twiggy when she became a top model in the 1960s. Everyone knew women on TV or at the office who dieted a little too hard. But America had never seen something as extreme as what happened to Karen Carpenter.

There was no looking away, no denying it. Karen stood on stage with Ella Fitzgerald for a TV special. She was barely able to stand up, and if she weighed 90 pounds, I’ll eat my hat. That velvet syrup voice was almost enough to distract from the approaching death, but not quite.

Do we even notice when our stars kill themselves in public today?

The Ozemporexia nervosa era

We’re entering our Ozemporexia nervosa era. As usual, few people are saying out loud what everyone already knows: People with troubled minds and troubled relationships to substances including food are taking the drugs to cover over, or to enhance, an eating disorder. The semaglutide injectable diabetes drugs work in part by chemically controlling appetite, so the primary reason these drugs are prescribed today is, of course, weight loss.

If you have turned on a computing device or entered a store within the past few months, you cannot avoid noticing the oversaturation of advertisements for the movie "Wicked: For Good." This is the sequel to the movie "Wicked," based on the long-running Broadway musical, itself based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel.

Maguire tells the story of the young Elphaba, the innocent green-skinned girl who would go on to terrorize Oz as the Wicked Witch of the West. Maguire's novel pioneered what has now become commonplace in our entertainment: recasting the evil, the sinister, and the villainous as misunderstood and traumatized wee harmless ones who are actually the heroes.

RELATED: Out-of-control Ozempic use means sad, saggy future for TL;DR generation

PHAS/Getty Images

Folie à deux

Cynthia Erivo plays Elphaba, although her knife-edged cheekbones and six-inch acrylic talons are less witchy and more "Nosferatu." The actress certainly seems to have the strange, self-absorbed charisma of a vampire, wasting away before our eyes even as she mesmerizes Hollywood into all manner of unnatural acts. Like casting her as Jesus in "Jesus Christ Superstar."

But it is in Erivo’s jarring relationship with fellow extreme ectomorph Ariana Grande — who co-stars as a young Glinda the Good — that we really sense the vampiric.

Like Erivo, Grande seems much frailer than she did just a few years ago. The two appear in public as if they were sewn together at the hip. In nearly every press interview for their "Wicked" movies, Erivo clicks her claws around Grande’s neck and head, fiddling with her jewelry in a creepily proprietary way. Or the two are holding hands as if they were waifs being introduced to grown-ups for the first time outside the orphanage.

Celebrities looking and acting weird. Big shock, right? This is Hollywood we’re talking about. The town is a magnet for dysfunctional people. Neglected, abused, and exploited children run for the big city lights so they can be beautiful, adored, and good enough in a way they could never be for their parents.

Eating disorders, addiction, and declining mental health all stem from these childhood circumstances, and they are worsened for those who choose fame as a means of “getting over” them.

The influence of anxiety

This is not to say that Erivo or Grande suffer from any of this or even that they use Ozempic. But their alarmingly thin bodies and their brittle, performative intimacy do not exist in a vacuum. While young people have been entranced by celebrity culture since the mid-20th century, the desperate absorption and imitation of every star’s psychiatric distress by ordinary American kids has never been as extreme as it is in 2025.

One can make a reasonable argument for using the semaglutide drugs to lose weight when one’s health is in jeopardy and other methods have not worked. Every patient has to run that calculation for herself and consider it with her doctor.

But I fear we are watching a replay of what happened in the 1970s and ’80s, when anorexia nervosa spread rapidly through the culture and clinicians noted that the intense public focus on Karen Carpenter’s illness seemed to accelerate the trend.

But this has a pharmaceutical assist that will give a “normal” brand name to what is just old-fashioned self-starvation.

All-ages contagion

British researcher Gerald Russell first described bulimia nervosa (binge eating, followed by purging, usually vomiting) in some of his anorexic patients in a paper published in the 1970s. He later shared his alarm that his paper, and the spread of terms and diagnostic language around the condition, may have caused it to spread among women in the Western population.

Russell was arguably correct, though he can’t be blamed for trying to help sufferers. Young women are especially vulnerable to trends and fads; they will do almost anything, no matter how potentially dangerous, to keep up with what their friends are doing. If Becca manages to keep her figure by discreetly puking up her lunch, why shouldn’t Caitlin?

Michelle Obama has recently displayed an alarming weight loss on a frame that didn’t have much to lose. On her Instagram she shared an behind-the-scenes image from her recent shoot with photographer Annie Leibovitiz.

At 61 years old, Obama is dressing in teen-style distressed jeans and clingy, skin-baring tops, showing off how her female curves are melting away.

Look at her face. Does this woman look healthy or happy?

No one left to notice

The problems that celebrities, normal young women, and some men and boys face about body image aren’t about a particular drug or a time-limited fashion trend. What we see today in Hollywood is not different from what we have always seen in the entertainment industry and among the kids and teens who consume it.

The problems begin at home — the home that no longer exists. Fatherlessness, divorce, and normalized neglectful, hands-off parenting have left today’s kids even more vulnerable to self destruction than those of my generation in the 1980s. And if you are old enough to remember what that was like, you remember plenty of screwed-up kids from screwed-up families.

It’s worse today because we’re pretending that it’s not wrong, that it’s not unhealthy. It has brand names and “rizz,” and besides, everyone is doing it. How can it be wrong?

In 1983, adults spoke about what happened to Karen Carpenter with alarm, and they said it out loud. Today, cool moms get glammed up along with their daughters in officially licensed Wicked(™) outfits and stand in line for tickets to watch the actresses perform “fun” while their minds and bodies decay.

Isn’t modernity wonderful?

The FDA just made Ozempic even more expensive — here’s how



While Americans struggle to afford life-changing medications, the Food and Drug Administration has effectively forced U.S. patients to subsidize Denmark’s booming economy. The agency’s recent declaration that the semaglutide shortage is “over” represents a staggering policy failure that benefits foreign pharmaceutical giants at the expense of American patients and health care innovation. Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, is the key ingredient in weight loss and diabetes medications that are reducing obesity nationwide.

The numbers tell the story: Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical giant behind Ozempic and Wegovy, became the largest company in Europe at the end of 2023 after demand for Ozempic skyrocketed. This meteoric rise has transformed not just the company but an entire nation. Novo Nordisk was responsible for more than half of Denmark’s private sector job growth, which now boasts one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies. Pharmaceutical exports are driving half of the country’s 2.5% GDP growth in 2023, with anticipated growth of 3% in 2024 and 2.9% this year.

Americans pay the highest prices in the world for medications that fuel another nation's economic boom.

The tiny Danish port town of Kalundborg, home to fewer than 17,000 residents, has become an unlikely boomtown. Novo Nordisk is investing an eye-watering $8.6 billion in expanding its facilities there. While Danes enjoy lower interest rates, expanded public amenities, and a robust job market thanks to the influx of American dollars, Americans face impossible choices about whether they can afford medication at all.

Americans foot the bill

Novo Nordisk relies heavily on the American market, with more than half of its sales coming from the United States. This dominance helped sustain Denmark’s economy, preventing a recession.

The company's dependence on U.S. consumers is reflected in its steep pricing. Ozempic costs $900 per month, while Wegovy is priced at $1,300 — a prohibitive expense for many Americans. For a time, an affordable alternative existed. When the federal government declared a semaglutide shortage, compounding pharmacies were allowed to produce lower-cost versions, offering them for hundreds of dollars less than the brand-name drugs.

That changed in February. Holdovers from the Biden administration declared the shortage over and set a deadline for compounding pharmacies to stop selling semaglutide alternatives. This move effectively drove the drug’s cost from under $200 back to more than $1,000.

The FDA’s blunder

The FDA's decision carries devastating consequences for Americans who depend on these medications. Rural and underserved communities, which often relied on telehealth and compounding pharmacies when brand-name options were unavailable or inaccessible, will be disproportionately affected. Countless patients will be forced to abandon treatment due to cost barriers, leading to worsening health conditions and higher long-term health care costs.

The FDA's decision represents a profound failure of regulatory policy. Rather than protecting American interests, it has sacrificed affordable access to critical medications to boost a foreign pharmaceutical giant’s profits and another country’s economic growth.

A better approach would balance legitimate safety concerns with the need for market competition to control prices. The FDA should immediately reassess its shortage determination and restore the ability of American compounding pharmacies to produce affordable alternatives. Insurance reforms should expand coverage for these medications, and policies need to ensure Americans aren't paying premium prices that subsidize European health care systems.

Putting American patients first

Regulatory agencies must prioritize the health and financial well-being of American patients over the economic interests of foreign corporations and governments. Americans already pay the highest drug prices in the world, and their money should not be fueling another nation's economic growth.

Policymakers must take action. Americans deserve access to affordable, life-changing medications without being forced to bankroll Denmark’s economic success. The FDA’s decision on semaglutide is more than bad health care policy — it is a failure to protect American consumers in favor of subsidizing foreign prosperity.

EXCLUSIVE: Jillian Michaels on why you should NEVER take Ozempic



They’re expensive, cause an array of side effects, and eventually stop working.

And yet Ozempic and other GLP1 drugs are more popular than ever — touted by celebrities and prescribed to millions of Americans convinced they’ve found their last, best chance of losing weight.

To those not willing to risk their mental health and quality of life for fleeting victory in their struggle with the scale, Michaels has a message of hope: 'Weight loss is simple.'

Nonsense, claims fitness and nutrition influencer Jillian Michaels.

'Zero weight loss'

In an email to Align, Michaels explained why the powerful peptides, which were originally prescribed for Type 2 diabetes and other diseases, are not the best pound-shedding solution for most people.

“The bottom line — they are extremely expensive. You plateau on them. The side effects are scary and the risk of experiencing the more serious ones increases over time,” says Michaels.

The good news? “There is a natural alternative.”

Michaels’ observations about GLP1 drugs reflect the experience of many who have failed to see any progress on the medication. One such user recently called in to the "Mind Pump" fitness podcast: “I’d been on semaglutide [Ozempic] for about six months and saw zero weight loss ... it was very, very frustrating.”

He had slightly more success after switching to a different GLP1 drug, the caller said, but he was still worried about the long-term: “My big question here is, what do you do when they don’t work, and what do you do when they stop working?”

Short-term fix

According to Michaels, his case is far from unique. Citing a survey from one of the country's biggest pharmacy benefit managers, Prime Therapeutics, Michaels noted that “66% of the people put on GLP1 drugs come off them within the first year citing cost, plateau, and side effects. And the risk for more serious side effects actually compounds over time.”

Yet, people remain desperate for these “miracle” drugs, even opting for unvetted knockoffs from online pharmacies. Late last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seized thousands of GLP1 products thought to be counterfeit, according to the New York Post.

Many consumers endanger themselves for what they believe offers their one shot at achieving a healthy weight. “That is simply just not true,” says Michaels, pointing to her record of helping thousands achieve these results with natural solutions.

Depression danger

While Michaels admits her way is not the easiest way, she does consider it the safest, scoffing at drugmakers’ claims that the long-term use of their products carries very little risk.

“I don’t even know how they arrive at that conclusion,” says Michaels. “The side effects are on the box because they are very legitimate.”

Those side effects include nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, stomach upset, and in more serious cases, pancreatitis or kidney failure. The drug has also been linked to over 100 deaths, according to the Daily Mail.

What’s even scarier? The thousands of cases reporting these adverse effects may just be the tip of the iceberg. “The FDA estimates that its Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) only receives reports for 1–10% of adverse drug events,” says Michaels. The actual number of users experiencing harmful side effects could be tens of thousands more.

Michaels added that people are also more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant after starting a GLP1. This may have something to do with how the drug interacts with the brain’s “pleasure center.”

It’s hypothesized that these drugs impact dopamine release, making substances like food or drugs lose their appeal, continued Michaels. This benefits a person with addiction, Michaels says, but others open the door to depression, malaise, and lack of sex drive due to the same mechanism.

In short, Michaels believes these drugs are only right for a small minority of people such as the morbidly obese with a host of comorbidities or those battling addiction.

“For everyone else, these should NEVER be an option,” says Michaels.

A simpler way

To those not willing to risk their mental health and quality of life for fleeting victory in their struggle with the scale, Michaels has a message of hope: “Weight loss is simple.”

It all comes down to moving more and eating less. “Calories are units of energy. Energy that doesn’t get utilized from calorie intake gets stored as fat,” says Michaels.

In place of paying for Ozempic, Michaels recommends people spend money on goods and services that will encourage moving more and eating less: counseling, healthy food, and membership in a gym or other fitness community.

“Supporting yourself in all the ways possible inside and out goes a long way,” says Michaels.

Those who ditch Ozempic in favor of Michaels’ advice may find themselves experiencing a whole new range of positive “side effects,” including improved mental health, better sleep, and reduced chronic disease, according to a Mind Pump Media article.

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