The “Ozempic craze,” as it’s become known, has its roots in celebrity culture. Influencers from Kim Kardashian and Oprah to Elon Musk and Tracy Morgan have all fueled the frenzy, either admitting they take GLP-1 drugs for weight loss or sparking such rumors on social media.
As a result, demand for the treatments has soared, with so many people desperate to tap into their rapid weight-loss effects that the manufacturers, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, still struggle to maintain supply.
Unsurprisingly, celebs continue to feed the rumor mill. Most recently, it was rapper Travis Scott who included a line in a new song about ex-girlfriend Kylie Jenner “doin’ Ozempic,” which led to several videos on TikTok going viral.
However, a new brand of lesser-known creators is taking shape on TikTok. These “GLP-1 influencers” are documenting their journeys on Novo’s semaglutide drugs Ozempic or Wegovy or on Lilly’s tirzepatide-based Mounjaro and Zepbound. They offer a personal view of the treatments — both positive and negative.
Following are some of TikTok’s top current GLP-1 influencers.
Kim Carlos
Known as “DMFKimOnMounjaroZepbound” on her TikTok page of more than 47,000 followers, Kim Carlos is one of the leading GLP-1 influencers on the platform. Carlos dubs herself a “GLP-1 advocate” and also hosts a podcast called “The Plus SideZ: Cracking the Obesity Code.”
Carlos uses her TikTok platform as well as her podcast to educate viewers about her journey losing weight on Mounjaro. Her podcast, meanwhile, bills itself as a “health and wellness” podcast that “grew out of a TikTok trend turned movement.”
The goal, Carlos says, is to remove the stigma surrounding obesity — and advocate for affordable weight loss medications.
Rachel Knight Gullette
“My name is Rachel, I have lost 165 pounds. And the only conscious lifestyle modification that I have made is taking a shot every seven days,” one of Rachel Knight Gullete’s videos starts out.
Gullete touts the efficacy of GLP-1 drugs on her TikTok page, where she has more than 8,000 followers, gaining tens of thousands of views on her videos. Gullette is known for posting lengthy, 10-minute long explanations of why taking GLP-1 injections, specifically Mounjaro — or “M-J,” as she puts it — changed her weight-loss journey.
But she’s also an advocate for treating obesity as a chronic disease that needs long-term treatment, depending on the patient. In Gullette’s view, she hopes to be able to continue taking GLP-1 drugs as “maintenance treatment” even after reaching her goal weight.
Hope
TikToker @hopiedopiee1, or Hope, has gathered more than 6,800 followers on the platform by religiously posting about her weight-loss experience with Wegovy.
“I am 22 weeks into my Wegovy journey, and I am down 60 pounds, which is just amazing, and I honestly feel so good, you guys,” Hope says in one video that almost appears like a TV ad. She adds that she hasn’t felt side effects or sick, and instead claims she feels energized and “glowing.”
But her experience hasn’t been without its challenges. In one video, Hope admits that the drug often makes her lose her appetite while eating: “Wegovy is literally eating your food and then getting disgusted by it mid-bite, but you know you have to eat so you force yourself to finish that bite,” she writes.
And, unsurprisingly, GLP-1 influencers like Hope have inspired others to try the drugs. In one recent post, she showed countless messages she received from TikTok followers who said she was the reason why they decided to get on the drug.
“You are the reason behind me wanting to get on Wegovy,” one message reads. “You inspired me to do it. I had never heard about Wegovy until I found your video.”
Kelsey
With over 270,000 followers, TikToker Kelsey — aka @itsmekelsc — has shown before-and-after photos of her weight loss, a post which went viral. When asked in the comments what helped her, her answer is “GLP-1 medication.”
While Kelsey has lost over 80 pounds in the last year, she still uses her platform to battle negative perceptions about obesity. In another post, one which received 2.8 million views, Kelsey argues that “skinny privilege” is real. She’s noticed a difference in how people treat her since losing a significant amount of weight.
In the video, she points out the importance of continuing the fight against stigmas surrounding obesity, even after she’s lost weight herself.
Ashley
Ashley, who goes by Bossfidence on TikTok, is one of several of the new breed of GLP-1 influencers to have journaled their weight gain from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
Ashley is also known for hopping on popular TikTok trends but with a GLP-1 twist. In one video that garnered 32,000 likes, she notes: “We’re GLP-1 girlies. We don’t count calories because we aren’t having any… We’re GLP-1 girlies. People think that we don’t work out, and they’re right.”
In other videos, she shows before-and-after examples of her more than 100-pound weight loss since starting the “Ozempic dupe” in 2022. Ashley also shares her daily meals in an effort to showcase to outside viewers what a typical GLP-1 patient eats.
Even as many of these creators report a growing following from the GLP-1 community on TikTok, they’ve also received their share of backlash.
Some users on TikTok have expressed skepticism, accusing the GLP-1 influencers of pushing unhealthy ideas about weight loss or expensive medications on vulnerable young people for whom treatment may be unnecessary.
TikTok itself took charge in suspending several of these influencer accounts last July. In particular, the platform focused on removing accounts that were associated with paid partnerships with telehealth companies that were seeking to increase GLP-1 prescriptions.
At the time, TikTok spokesperson Jessica Allen told STAT that the platform was removing content and banning accounts “that promote disordered eating or dangerous weight loss behaviors and do not permit ads for weight loss drugs or supplements.”
Much of the GLP-1 content falls into the gray area of TikTok’s guidelines. That is, while discussions around GLP-1 meds aren’t banned, anything that may cross the line into “dangerous weight loss behaviors” can be, according to the platform.
Still, many GLP-1 influencers, including Kim Carlos, have been aiming to rebuild the community since TikTok’s suspension spree in July. In a recent video, she noted that many creators who have tried to come back have nevertheless been “suppressed” by the platform, even if those who had up to a million followers.
“It’s really difficult to find them again, even though our community has done nothing but get bigger,” Carlos explains.
