CNN
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Oprah Winfrey is warning fans against falling victim to companies selling weight loss products using her name and image.
On Sunday, the 68-year-old former talk show host and media mogul took to Instagram to distance herself from gummies being sold online, saying she does not endorse edible weight loss products.
In the short video, Winfrey said she felt compelled to address the online scams after being approached five times in one week by people looking for weight loss gummies.
“I have nothing to do with weight loss gummies or diet pills and I don’t want you all taken advantage of by people misusing my name,” she told her 21.6 million Instagram followers.
Winfrey, who does have a partnership with and stake in WW International, the company formerly known as Weight Watchers, added in the video caption: “Fraud alert! Please don’t buy any weight loss gummies with my picture or name on them.
“There have been social media ads, emails, and fake websites going out and I want you to hear it straight from me, that I have nothing to do with them. Please don’t be taken advantage of and don’t give your personal information to them.”
CNN has contacted Winfrey’s representatives for further comment.
Earlier this year, a series of sponsored videos began circulating online using Winfrey’s name and likeness to promote a product.
One ad posted on Facebook on April 27 urged users to “Claim your fitness gummies from Oprah until the 30th,” with a promise that the product would induce considerable weight loss within three weeks.
In May, Winfrey addressed the scams via her representative.
“These ads are a complete fabrication,” Nicole Nichols told USA Today. “Oprah has nothing to do with this gummy product and does not endorse any such diet or weight-loss pill.”
Winfrey has publicly shared her weight loss journey for years and famously declared “I love bread” in a Weight Watchers commercial back in 2016.
