“ I could have kept this a secret . I could have gone on and on for years and not told , but I do n’t wanna do that . ”
TikTok influencer Janelle Rohner has addressed the immense backlash over her recent admission about her use of weight loss medication.
For context, Janelle is a 37-year-old social media influencer with over 5.2 million followers on TikTok. She has spent years posting videos centered around health, wellbeing, and fitness, notably selling her fans a $200 macros course. The course isadvertised on Janelle’s websiteas “a one time purchase” that “will literally change your life and the way you view food.”
Last week, Janelle posted a5-minute video on YouTubetitled, “Let’s talk: Therapy, GLP1 & The Truth About My recent Weight Loss.” In the video, she admitted that she’s quietly been using a drug called GLP-1 as “a tool to help” her lose weight. Medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro, which have become increasingly popular for weight loss, are classified as GLP-1 drugs.
“Over the last year, I have decided to make some new choices in my health. I started working with a doctor, and we did decide to add a GLP-1 to my plan,” she said, noting that she’d tried “keto, macros, workouts,” and shifting her lifestyle.
“GLP-1s are not magic. They don’t change your lifestyle overnight — it’s just a tool to help,” she went on. “I still had to show up: show up for my meals, track my macros, drink my water, go on walks, do my workouts — everything that I already teach and believe in. It just helped me regain a sense of control, and it’s something that I don’t want to be ashamed of.”
“ I do n’t think other fair sex or men who are using this puppet should feel ashamed either . Because if there ’s a tool out there that can help with your mental or physical health , you deserve to search that without feel shamefaced or ashamed , ” she say .
“After a few months, I had lost the stubborn 10 to 15 pounds. I was happy,” Janelle continued. “I switched to microdosing for maintenance, and I would maybe do a microdose once a month.”
Later on in the video, after opening up about going to therapy, Janelle said, “The reason I’m sharing this now is because I always promised I’d be real with you guys and I’m proud of how far I’ve come.”
Unsurprisingly, Janelle faced immense backlash over her admission, with people branding her a “complete fraud” and demanding refunds for anyone who purchased her $200 course.
“ When your business is built around weighting loss and you ’re charging people $ 200 for a course , transparency becomes part of the responsibility . Taking a GLP-1 drug while positioning yourself as a weight departure coach or influencer — without expose it — span a line . It starts to find scammy , peculiarly when multitude are trusting you with their money , time , and health journey , ” one YouTube comment read .
“ It ’s not that she ’s on the GLP1 . It ’s that she is selling a $ 200 class to people to help them drop off weight when depend macro was n’t even enough for her to lose all of the system of weights she wanted to , ” tell another . “ There is n’t shame in taking glp-1 . The shame is when you fool your audience into imagine they can look like you if they eat and exercise like you do . dissatisfactory , ” someone else agreed .
“ Are you going to refund the money you made since starting to take the GLP1 ? The money you made during that clock time is based off lying to people who did n’t merit that , ” one person questioned .
“ A great reminder to us all that social medium is not real . I sincerely yours hope hoi polloi can be refunded for spending their intemperately earned money on a prevarication , ” someone else wrote .
Janelle later addressed the backlash in aTikTok video. Replying to someone who accused her of looking for sympathy, she said, “I’m just trying to do the right thing and I’m trying to be honest now…I could have kept this a secret. I could have gone on and on for years and not told, but I don’t wanna do that. I don’t wanna be that person, I don’t wanna be that influencer.”
Insisting again that she still believes in tracking macros, and that she used GLP-1 “as a tool,” Janelle added, “If people felt deceived by that, I really truly am sorry. I am willing to do a refund for anybody who bought a class in the last 11 months.”
