Viewers appalled by John McEnroe's 'weight loss drug' remark during Serena Williams' Wimbledon defeat
Tennis icon John McEnroe ('You can't be serious!') has made a splash with his Serena Williams weight comments.
Commentating live on BBC as the seven-time Wimbledon champion crossed racquets with Maya Joint this week - she ended up losing 6-3 6-7 6-3 in the first round - McEnroe referred to Williams' drug-inspired physical transformation with an air of wonder.
"Serena has got really fit, she's used a weight loss drug, I bet that will go up the roof now!" said the 67-year-old, who himself clinched seven Grand Slam titles across his career.
Naturally, these remarks caught fire on social media, with one amused user tweeting: "Did anyone hear what John McEnroe just said about Serena and the weight loss drug?!"
Advert
As the discussion took flight, it became clear that most viewers were not impressed with the tennis player's open association with GLP-1 specialists Ro.co.
"That is the only reason she came back. All about the money and sales of RO. Nothing else," raged one sports fan.
"These drugs should be ban banned by athletic associations," wrote a second X user. "You want to be known as an incredibly fit athlete then earn it by your fitness regiment and training."
Meanwhile, a third person chipped in with: "Serena Williams' whole purpose of playing Wimbledon at age 44 was to promote the weight loss drug she sponsors... ESPN has been playing her Zepbound commercial on heavy rotation... Pure economics."
LADbible has reached out to McEnroe's representatives for comment.
Less than a year ago, Williams appeared on TODAY to crush the stigma attached to weight loss medications.
She recounted years of health struggles that left her needing a significant change.
"A lot of people have been wondering about my new fitness journey and what I've been doing, and I've been really open about me being on GLP-1s and I thought it was really important to come out and say it," she stated.
"So I'm on a GLP-1 through Ro.co and for me it was just really about taking away that stigma of like, is it a lazy way? Is it a shortcut, why would you do that?"
After she and her husband Alexis Ohanian welcomed their two daughters Olympia and Adira, Williams was never able to reach a healthy mark on the scales.
"My body was actually missing something no matter what I did. I literally was playing professional tennis, training five hours a day and I would always work my way to one point at the scale and it would never go below that.
"So for me, eventually when GLP-1s came out it was like, no way! No how! That's not for me, don't sign me up! But then I looked at it as a sport, as an opponent," she explained.
"Like, OK, I can't beat this opponent no matter what I do, I have to try something different. I tried something different, it didn't work and so eventually I saw my friends using it, I saw a lot of people on it and I tried it and it actually worked."
Dan Seddon