Health and wellness influencer Janelle Rohner is receiving backlash after revealing that she’s been taking medication for weight loss.
The 37-year-old, who has 5.2 million TikTok followers, said in a YouTube video posted on April 23 that she’s been using GLP-1 “as a tool to help” in her weight loss journey, after various other methods hadn’t worked. (Semaglutide medications, such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, are all classified as GLP-1 drugs and have become increasingly popular in recent years.)
“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,” Rohner began, adding that she’d “tried it all — keto, macros, workouts, lifestyle shifts.”
“GLP-1s are not magic. They don’t change your lifestyle overnight — it’s just a tool to help. 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,” she continued.
“After a few months, I had lost the stubborn 10 to 15 pounds. I was happy,” Rohner then said. “I switched to microdosing for maintenance, and I would maybe do a microdose once a month.”
Related: Ozempic and Similar Drugs May Offer Health Benefits Beyond Weight Loss, Including Reduced Alcohol Cravings
Fans didn’t respond well to Rohner’s video, however, as they accused her of “misleading” them, after selling $200 courses promoting weight loss programs.
“The issue isn’t about using GLP-1 or seeking help from a doctor for your mental health … The real problem is charging people for a weight loss program while hiding the true reason behind your own weight loss,” one person wrote.
“You’re taking people’s money, misleading them, and not being honest with yourself either,” the individual continued.
A day later, on April 24, Rohner posted a TikTok video, in which she apologized and responded to the backlash.
Related: Stars Who’ve Spoken About Ozempic — and What They’ve Said
“I’m not asking for sympathy, I’m just trying to do the right thing, and I’m trying to be honest,” she said. “Now I could have kept this a secret, I could have gone on and on for years and not told, and I don’t want to do that.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“The internet is such a scary place to be open and vulnerable,” Rohner continued, adding: “I still wholeheartedly believe in tracking macros and the workouts that I do and my classes.”
“I did not take a GLP-1 because I don’t believe in my classes and macros wasn’t working. I did it for other personal and health reasons to use as a tool to hit my goals. And if people felt deceived by that, I really truly am sorry,” she then said.
Rohner also told fans that she would refund anyone who bought one of her classes in the past 11 months.
Read the original article on People
