Ashley Graham Calls Out GLP-1 Weight-Loss Craze as a Blow to Body Positivity

Ashley Graham has never been shy about where she stands on body image. In a new Marie Claire profile published Thursday, April 30, the 38-year-old model takes on the GLP-1 craze — yes, the Ozempic/Wegovy/Mounjaro wave — and how it collides with the last decade of body-positivity progress.

"There was a pendulum that swung that was so body acceptance, positivity and everybody be who they want to be. And now, it’s going back this whole opposite way that feels like a smack in the face to the women who have felt like they’ve had a voice."

GLP-1s vs body positivity: where Graham lands

Graham is not pretending the trend does not exist — in her words, GLP-1s are having a moment — but she is also not buying into the idea that one medication erases entire communities. In short: people will still live in larger bodies, and representation still matters.

• GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro (semaglutide and similar meds) are prescribed to adults dealing with weight-related health issues.
• Plenty of celebrities have jumped on them to slim down, which is why you keep hearing about it.
• Doctors keep stressing these are not casual weight-loss hacks — using them that way can be risky.

Graham’s counter-programming is simple: keep building a real community. She points to the surge of plus-size creators and influencers — different sizes, shapes, and vibes — who connect with audiences because they actually look like the people following them. To her, that is the win: a new generation raised on social media talking directly to younger fans and saying, basically, be yourself, and if you have cellulite, who cares.

Getting real about her postpartum body

For all the public talk, Graham is also clear about her own private recalibration post-kids. She and her husband, Justin Ervin, share three sons (including twins), and she says she is still getting to know the body she has now. It is not mirror-affirmations and instant self-love; it is more like: my body made children, and that matters.

She remembers being as fit as she could be in 2019 when she first got pregnant, and, yes, part of her still chases that. But she has had to accept that the late-20s/early-30s version of herself is not coming back. Instead, as she puts it, the focus is on the 'new girl' — a mindset she has been working through for the last four years.

Bottom line: the culture may be swinging hard toward quick fixes, but Graham is staying the course — amplifying voices, making space, and reminding everyone that trends come and go, while real bodies (and the people in them) are not a fad.