Weight-loss drugs like GLP-1’s have boomed in popularity over the last few years, despite the very real side effects, which range from hair to severe gastrointestinal distress. Now, a new class of medications —amylin-based weighty loss drugs — are showcasing a different path forward. A new international study found that people taking one such drug, petrelintide, lost weight while avoiding the type of digestive side effects (like nausea, vomiting, constipation and diarrhea) that can often derail treatment for those using GLP-1s. For those of us who are interested in the benefits of a weight-loss drug but not so jazzed about the GI distress that comes with options like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro, it’s welcome news — but the study found that amylin-based drugs may not be quite equal when it comes to the amount of weight coming off. Related story John Goodman Opens Up About Weighing Nearly 400 Pounds and the ‘Vicious Cycle’ of Drinking What are amylin-based obesity drugs, and what is petrelintide? Amylin-based obesity drugs use an analogue of a hormone, amylin, released by the pancreas alongside insulin, per Yale Medicine. Amylin regulates your blood sugar and gives you a feeling of fullness by slowing down the rate at which food leaves your stomach, which helps to suppress your appetite. The effects are similar to a GLP-1 medication, but they work via different mechanisms: amylin-based drugs use an analogue of the pancreatic hormone amylin, while GLP-1s mimic or amplify the effect of glucagon-like peptide-1, which is released by your liver. Petrelintide is a once-weekly injectable amylin analogue drug highlighted in the new study, a medication developed by Zealand Pharma in partnership with Roche. While reporting around the study highlighted how its side effects and weight loss matched up against GLP-1 drugs, the drugs haven’t been compared in a head-to-head trial. Still, we’re able to draw a few tentative conclusions from the research. What did the study find? The recent study on petrelintide, ZUPREME-1, was released in September as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 dose-finding trial (funded by Zealand Pharma, the makers of petrelintide). It was conducted at 32 sites internationally, including public hospitals and private clinics in countries like the US, Poland, and Romania, and included 485 participants with obesity, with a mean BMI of 36.7 to 37 kg/m2, and a mean body weight of about 107 kg (235 pounds). The participants’ mean age was 48. The study found that after 42 weeks on petrelintide, participants had lost about 10% of their starting weight, on average, compared to just 1.7% for those participants on the placebo. Specifically, participants on the smaller, one-milligram dose lost 8.7% of their bodyweight, versus 10.5-10.7% on the seven-milligram dose. All participants (including those on the placebo) also received counseling on weight loss through diet and at least 150 minutes of exercise per week. The weight loss is lower than what patients on GLP-1’s typically lose. Per Drugs.com, people on semaglutide (like Ozempic and Wegovy) often lose, on average, 15-19% of their bodyweight; for people on tirzepatide (like Zepbound), it’s around 20-21%. But notably, the study participants on pertrelintide lost this weight without experiencing some of the grueling side effects that often come with GLP-1s. The less significant weight loss might be the tradeoff for lighter side effects. So what were the side effects of petrelintide? The study found that petrelintide’s most common side effect was nausea, which was experience by 20% of participants on the drug (versus 6% on the placebo). Other side effects included vomiting (3% of petrelintide users) and diarrhea (7% of petrilintide users). But the researchers also found that at the maximally effective dose of pertrelintide (that seven-milligram mark), there was no vomiting reported at all — and none of the participants had to discontinue treatment due to GI side effects. “Rates of nausea with petrelintide are less than half of those observed with GLP-1 medications,” noted lead researcher Timothy Garvey, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in an interview with HCPLive. “Rates of constipation, diarrhea, and vomiting roughly approximated those observed in placebo,” he continued. “This is a well-tolerated medication.” The side effect conversation is an important one. The gastrointestinal side effects caused by GLP-1’s lead to 41% of users to suffer in silence, self-adjust the medications, or even stop taking them altogether, according to a national survey from Oshi Health. What happens next? Petrelintide isn’t yet approved by the FDA, so it’s not available yet in the US, and these results still need to be reproduced in further trials. But the news is looking positive: in phase 2b trial results released earlier this month, 220 people with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes reported losing up to 9.5% of their bodyweight over 28 weeks, compared to 2% with placebo. The next step is to test the drug again in a Phase 3 trial. It’s also worth noting again that we don’t know how petrelintide performs in a head-to-head trial versus a GLP-1 drug — we can only compare studies of both drugs done separately. Still, if a weight-loss drug with potentially less intense side effects than a GLP-1 is piquing your interest, it’s worth keeping an eye on petrelintide and talking to your doctor if it does become available. Source link

Jon Bon Jovi couldn’t even sing “Happy Birthday.” For a singer who’s spent decades leading stadiums through “Livin’ on a Prayer,” that’s a hard thing to imagine. But in a recent interview with Australia’s A Current Affair, the 64-year-old described just how difficult it was to rebuild his voice after undergoing vocal cord medialization surgery in 2022. “I didn’t lose faith, but had [my doctor] told me it was going to be four years, I might’ve contemplated saying, ‘It’s been great,’” he said. “Because the process was so damn long and I would see the progress, but it was incremental. It was inches. I couldn’t sing ‘Happy Birthday.’” Related story Octavia Spencer Found Out She Had Type 2 Diabetes at a Routine Physical in Her 30s, and Here’s What She Changed Why Bon Jovi Kept Saying No to Touring Bon Jovi said he repeatedly turned down plans to get back on the road because his voice wasn’t where he wanted it to be, even when others thought he sounded fine. “I’ve gone through hell and I would not, could not, compromise the legacy,” he said. “I could not, would not go out and hold the mic out to the crowd.” He was also honest about how stressful performing had become before surgery. “In 2019 and 2022 for sure, every note I was white-knuckling that microphone,” he recalled. “‘Is that in tune? Is that in tune? Is that good enough?’” He added, “That was real. Every night. It was not worth doing.” His wife, Dorothea, didn’t sugarcoat his performance either. After one Nashville performance, he remembered telling her, “That was pretty good!” Her answer? “No. It wasn’t.” Bon Jovi said he appreciated her honesty. ‘I Can Actually Sing Without Thinking About Singing’ Bon Jovi describes his voice as “phenomenal” and being back onstage as “joyous.” But the biggest difference may be how little he has to think about it. “I can actually sing without thinking about singing,” he said. After years of questioning every note, that’s a meaningful change. “The beautiful thing that I aspired to for these years was, I have 18 albums. I want to be able to pick any song from any record and know that I can do them,” he explained. By the end of the band’s Wembley shows, he said, that was happening. His bandmates stayed with him through the uncertainty. In June, Bon Jovi told People that they never doubted him or decided to move on. “The sacrifices that each one of them have made to be there for me is on a whole ’nother level,” he said. “They said, ‘No, we’re with you.’” And after years of second-guessing his voice, he’s giving himself a break from judging every performance. “I haven’t read a single review,” he told A Current Affair. “I didn’t listen to a note and I just say, ‘I was there. I know. I had a great time. I’m having fun again.’” Source link

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, SheKnows may receive an affiliate commission. Lily Allen wasn’t always comfortable asking for what she wanted in bed. In a new interview with The Times, the singer said she focused on keeping her partner happy rather than considering her own needs. “My priority has been to make sure I don’t get rejected or abandoned,” she said. “Therefore, I’m prioritizing my partner’s enjoyment because the first thing I’m protecting is my safety.” Allen’s comments come as she launches a new collection with Lovehoney, which includes a cute peach-shaped clitoral stimulator, a heart-shaped dual clitoral and licking stimulator, and of course, her take on the famous Womanizer toy. Related story The Best Last-Minute Halloween Deals to Shop This Weekend — From Officially Licensed Costumes to Decor When it comes to sex, Allen said learning what she enjoys has helped her feel more comfortable asking for it — and she hopes talking about it will encourage other women to do the same. Lovehoney Lily Allen Heart Duo Clitoral Suction and Licking Stimulator Why Allen Put Her Partners’ Pleasure First “I grew up feeling that I was a vehicle for male pleasure,” Allen told The Times. “I never really considered my own needs.” For her, keeping a partner satisfied was tied to wanting to feel secure in the relationship, not necessarily enjoying herself. Allen also talked about how easily women can put their own desires last. “We don’t always prioritize our own desires because we focus on pleasing others, doing our jobs properly and looking after our friends and family,” she said in a press release shared with SheKnows. “We can forget that listening to what our body needs is just as important.” Speaking up wasn’t always easy for her, either. “I think women in particular can find it difficult to ask for what they want. When I was younger, I know I did,” she said. It’s something she wants to make less awkward to discuss, especially when the conversation is about self-pleasure. Lily Allen Womanizer Enhance Black Pleasure Air Clitoral Vibrator Learning What She Likes Has Helped Her Ask for It Allen said learning what she likes has made it easier to tell a partner what she wants. “For me, toys can help you to better understand your body and learn what you like,” she said in the Lovehoney press release. “I’ve been able to use that knowledge to express what I want in my relationships, which is empowering. And I hope this collection helps others feel similarly.” Allen told The Times that introducing toys with partners hadn’t always gone over well. But she’s no longer willing to give up something she enjoys to keep someone else comfortable. “I haven’t stuck around with [them] because I find [toys] really helpful, really fun,” she said. “It makes the whole thing a lot more enjoyable for me. If it makes it less enjoyable for him, he can move on.” Lily Allen Womanizer Peach Toy Rechargeable Clitoral Stimulator Allen first collaborated with Lovehoney in 2020. In the press release, she said people still tell her what a difference it made — and they’re not talking about her music. “Instinctively, I think they’re going to be talking about my music, but they’re actually talking about the toys,” she said. “Thankfully, people seem a little more comfortable now, but we still need to nudge that conversation along some more — it can only ever be a good thing not to feel shame about our own bodies.” For Allen, her own pleasure deserves time, too. “It’s not a selfish thing to do. It’s self-care — there’s no shame in it,” she said. “Why should we deny ourselves enjoyment and the confidence that can come from that?” Source link

Call Her Daddy is one of the most popular podcasts in the world, ranking particularly high with women listeners. But before it was the sole domain of Alex Cooper, it was a shared effort, with co-founder Sofia Franklyn, who left the show after two years, in 2020, over a personal fallout. Now, just a day after Cooper announced the birth of her baby, Franklyn has published a chapter of her forthcoming memoir, Daddy Issues, in Vanity Fair, and it’s all about her 2023 abortion. “There’s no right way to talk about this. I share a lot in this book, but this is hard for me to say even now,” she writes in an intro to the piece for VF. “Having an abortion isn’t like having a public scandal, nor is writing about it. I can usually reconcile the dark corners of my past, but my feelings around my abortion are, in many ways, still pending, and, frankly, it still feels very wrong to share publicly. But I hope putting myself out there will free me from the self-imposed exile and shame.” Related story Kerry Washington Opens Up About Learning To ‘Forgive’ Herself After Her Abortion When you have an abortion, she continues, “the take-home packet gives you explicit instructions on what to do if you bleed through two pads per hour. But nowhere does it include guidance on the emotional clusterfuck that’s to come.” She took the pills at home, and weeks later says she “couldn’t recognize” herself in the mirror, physically or mentally. “I felt crazy. I later learned that there is a physiological, hormonal, neurological chain reaction that occurs. No one prepares you for that part,” she writes. “At the time, all I had were Reddit threads and an off-handed comment my friend made to check my hormones months after. Getting some answers, no matter how disparate, made it less scary.” She wrote this chapter, she explains, “because I want women to feel less insane. Less alone. I want women to know that other women are having abortions. They are just not talking about it. We aren’t supposed to.” The chapter opens with her, at 30, explaining that she’s feeling dejected after leaving Call Her Daddy and starting her own, not-as-successful podcast, Sofia with an F. She worries that anything she says will sound “dumb and empty.” After she complains of feeling bloated and her boyfriend Aidan suggests she could be pregnant — something she rejects because of having taken “the Chinatown version of Plan B” — a home test confirms it. “I spend the next three hours scrambling to prove the test wrong,” she writes, “comparing the color of the lines to the pictures on the box, comparing the box to the pamphlet, and googling false positives, which turns out are much rarer than false negatives.” She makes a beeline for Planned Parenthood, waiting an hour until a nurse takes her blood and confirms the pregnancy. She asks for an abortion, unsure of “what comes next,” and the nurse says they will discuss the options and schedule the procedure for the next week. But Franklyn wants it ASAP, as she was leaving for in just a couple of days for her “incredible, nonrefundable, family-only trip to the Amalfi Coast for my birthday.” The office squeezed her in the next day. “I look six months pregnant by the time we get to Positano, which Reddit tells me is ‘post-procedure belly,’ even though I was only pregnant for about five weeks,” she writes, adding that her brother commented that she looked pregnant “out of the blue.” She feels guilty when she tells her mom — who was 21 when she got pregnant with Franklyn — for being her age and “getting rid of it within 48 hours,” and for wanting to protect her life of partying, “numbing,” and “running.” She wonders, “How can I bring new life into the world when I don’t live a life worth keeping myself?” Shortly after the trip, Franklyn learns that Cooper is launching her new media company, Unwell — a phrase Franklyn says she made a staple. When her manager suggests an indirect response, she posts photos of herself from the Italy trip with the caption, “I’m well.” Source link

Octavia Spencer went in for a physical for an acting job and left with a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. The Oscar winner was in her 30s and hadn’t felt anything was wrong before the routine checkup. “Yeah, it was a shock,” she told Prevention for its November issue. At the time, Spencer was overweight but felt healthy — a combination she now describes as “dangerous.” How Octavia Spencer Found Out She Had Type 2 Diabetes The physical was an insurance requirement ahead of filming a project, though Spencer can’t remember which one. What she does remember is how stunned she was when her fasting bloodwork showed her blood sugar was in the diabetes range. “But I was also close to 300 pounds,” she told the outlet. Related story Glenn Close Shares Health Update After Being Spotted Using a Cane Spencer, a self-described “Southern girl” who grew up in Alabama, wasn’t seeing a doctor regularly because she felt healthy. “I didn’t have any health issues at that point that I could feel,” she said. “I was very overweight, but I felt good, and that can be a dangerous combination.” Type 2 diabetes can develop over years without noticeable symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). An A1C test measures average blood sugar levels over the past two to three months, but patients shouldn’t assume it’s included in every blood draw. “Patients should understand that an A1C is not routinely performed as part of a standard laboratory blood draw and will need to be specifically ordered by the clinician,” Scott Nass, MD, lead family medicine physician at SwiftCareMD, tells SheKnows. Getting Her A1C Under Control After Diagnosis After her diagnosis, Spencer’s first priority was getting her A1C under control. “So first, I had to get that controlled,” she said. “See, you don’t [always] feel bad when your A1C is high. There’s no pain.” [Pull Quote: “There’s no pain.”] For Spencer, that meant bringing her A1C down to what she called “textbook [levels].” The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends an A1C target of 7 percent or less for most people living with diabetes, though the right target may be higher or lower depending on factors such as age, health history, and the risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Today, Spencer eats fewer refined carbs than she did before her diagnosis and exercises whenever she can. “Am I 100 percent on top of all that? No. Could I be better? I could be a lot better.” Finding a doctor she felt comfortable with took some effort, too. Spencer said she had to “shop around” for someone who understood her anxiety about her health because she “can’t be nervous all the time.” Why Spencer Asked for a uACR Kidney Test Diabetes and high blood pressure both raise the risk of kidney disease, which is why Spencer asked her doctor for a uACR (urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio) test. It checks for albumin, a protein that can leak into urine when the kidneys’ filters are damaged. She said her results were normal. “This matters because kidney disease is often silent in its early stages,” Craig Zebuda, MD, chief medical officer at Yunara Life, tells SheKnows. “Identifying damage early allows us to take steps to slow or sometimes prevent progression through better blood sugar and blood pressure management, lifestyle changes and kidney-protective medications when appropriate.” Spencer would rather know where she stands. “Let’s say you get a diagnosis that you’re borderline; borderline can be helped!” she said. She’s sharing that message through Detect the SOS Collective, a campaign in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim, the American Diabetes Association, National Kidney Foundation, Mended Hearts, and WomenHeart. It encourages people with high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes to ask their doctors about uACR testing. “This is my story. And I want to get as many people to hear this story as possible,” she said. If you have type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure, these questions are worth bringing to your next appointment: Should I be getting a uACR test? What do my blood sugar and blood pressure history mean for my kidney health? How often should my kidneys be checked? Managing Diabetes and High Blood Pressure Over Time Spencer has lived with type 2 diabetes for about two decades and also manages high blood pressure. “I’ve been managing it, but as I’m aging, it’s getting to feel like whack-a-mole keeping things in order,” she told People in January. Her longtime friend Sofía Vergara participates in Detect the SOS as a caregiver advocate, and the two appeared together in a Super Bowl game-day ad about kidney screening. For Spencer, sharing her experience is a chance to reach people who might not think they need testing because, like her, they feel fine. Spencer understands why people might put off a test out of fear, but she’d rather know what she’s dealing with. “And even if you get a diagnosis that says right now you’re in kidney failure, wouldn’t you want to know that? There’s stuff that can be done!” Source link

Glenn Close has an explanation for the cane — and she doesn’t want anyone to worry. After the 79-year-old acting legend was photographed using one at the New York City premiere of La Bola Negra on Oct. 15, she shared an update on Instagram to let her fans know that she’s doing just fine. “I wanted to just hop on and thank you for all of your love, and to explain why I have a cane,” she said in the video. “I have a cane because I have had a complete hip replacement.” Related story John Goodman Opens Up About Weighing Nearly 400 Pounds and the ‘Vicious Cycle’ of Drinking Getting Back in ‘Running Order’ Close explained that her left hip was in “really bad shape” before the procedure. She said her priority now is keeping herself ready for whatever comes next. “My whole thing right now is to keep myself in running order so that I can really leap into whatever challenges come my way,” the Fatal Attraction star said. Her schedule doesn’t leave much room for a slow return. Close plans to travel to London next week for the premiere of The Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping, followed by a trip to New York for the season two premiere of All’s Fair. She hopes she won’t need the cane for much longer. Focusing on the Future For now, Close has family nearby as she recovers. She previously shared that she’s been spending time at the Montana “family sanctuary” she built near her siblings, per People. In her latest video, she assured fans that her “wonderful, wonderful family” is around her. She also has an honorary Oscar to look forward to at the upcoming Governors Awards. But before she gets back to everything on her calendar, she wants to feel like herself again. “I hope to be fully present there, and maybe not running around going up mountains, but at least my old self,” she said. “Don’t worry. I’m feeling great… and I look forward to all the adventures coming.” Source link

John Goodman says quitting drinking didn’t resolve his relationship with food. In a recent interview with The New Yorker, the 74-year-old Roseanne actor discussed getting sober in 2007 and the eating habits he struggled with afterward. For years, he’d lose weight only to gain it back, and he was tired of starting over. “I’d lose 60 pounds in a summer, gain it all back. Seventy pounds, 80 pounds. And that got tiring,” he told the outlet. “I took steps so I wouldn’t have to do that anymore. I was almost four hundred pounds. I was eating alcoholically after I stopped drinking.” Related story Eric Dane’s Memoir Reveals the Devastating Moment He Told Rebecca Gayheart About His ALS ‘I Just Was Tired of It’ Goodman described using both food and alcohol for comfort, with little thought about how he’d feel afterward. “The thing about instant gratification is you don’t really care what’s going to happen right after it,” he said. He described hangovers and drinking to relieve the shakes as part of “that vicious cycle.” He said his health had reached the point where hospitalization was necessary. “I just was tired of it, and I wanted to stop.” When asked whether he’d worried that sobriety would change the cheerful, larger-than-life personality audiences knew from his movies, Goodman said that wasn’t his priority. “If I did, it was a secondary thought, because I was saving my life at that point.” Taking Care of Himself Now He also shared that he’d had an “operation” on his stomach, though he didn’t name the procedure. Goodman said he’s developed anemia, too, and now feels cold all the time. These days, his exercise routine includes balance exercises, core work, and strength training. He discussed his recovery from a fractured hip after he slipped while walking in socks on the set of Digger. He had surgery the following day. Taking care of himself extends to work, where he’s trying to ease up on the pressure he puts on himself to rehearse and remember his lines. “The best stuff happens when I’m relaxed,” he explained. As for sobriety, Goodman said it gave him a chance to experience things he’d missed while drinking. “I was overlooking real life,” he said. “And it was great to see there was a life where I didn’t have to use anything to enjoy it.” Source link

Christina Applegate says she doesn’t have MS — but she’s still sick, and she still needs answers. During her October 20 return to MeSsy, the podcast she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, the Dead to Me actress revealed that she’d been misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis. While others welcomed this news, Applegate was still trying to process what it meant for her health. “She came into my room and said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS,’” Applegate recalled. “I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy.” Related story Eric Dane’s Memoir Reveals the Devastating Moment He Told Rebecca Gayheart About His ALS ‘I Lost Everything’ Applegate, who publicly shared her MS diagnosis in 2021, became emotional (rightfully so) while discussing how much her health has affected her career and everyday life. “I lost everything. I lost my job,” she said. “I get really emotional because it stopped my life,” she continued. “I still have to use wheelchairs when I go to the doctor’s offices. I can’t walk from the car to the room. I’m still in this. Nothing magical happened when she said, ‘You don’t have MS.’” The actress also admitted that she feels guilty after spending years sharing her experience with the MS community. “I feel like I let everybody down,” she told Sigler, who has MS herself. Her co-host reassured her: “You didn’t mislead anyone.” Redditors are backing her up, too. “She was diagnosed with it by her doctor, and trusted the diagnosis,” one person wrote. Others shared their own experiences of having a diagnosis withdrawn after years of treatment. Why MS Can Be Difficult to Diagnose There isn’t a single test that definitively establishes an MS diagnosis, according to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. Doctors review a person’s symptoms, medical history, neurological exam, and MRI findings. Other conditions, including migraine and lupus, can cause similar-looking brain lesions. That overlap can make MS harder to diagnose. Applegate hasn’t shared a new diagnosis. “I haven’t gotten better, Jamie,” she said. “If anything, I’ve gotten worse in some ways.” She’s still dealing with the symptoms that sent her to the doctor in the first place. It’s understandable that she’d want answers, not congratulations. Source link

Eric Dane called Rebecca Gayheart from his car after learning he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In his forthcoming memoir, My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments, the Grey’s Anatomy actor recalled telling his estranged wife about the diagnosis. “I say to Rebecca on the phone, ‘It’s what we feared,’” he wrote in an excerpt published by People. “I don’t remember a single word I said after that.” Related story Christina Applegate Breaks Down Over Her Heartbreaking Misdiagnosis: ‘I Lost Everything’ The memoir will be published on November 3, nearly nine months after Dane’s death on February 19 at age 53. He publicly announced his diagnosis in April 2025. ‘I’m Here, We’ll Fight This Together’ He recalled hearing Gayheart cry on the other end of the line. She told him, “I’m here, we’ll fight this together, I’m not going anywhere.” The two separated years earlier. Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018 after 14 years of marriage, but they continued to co-parent their daughters, Billie and Georgia, and take family vacations. Dane wrote that their separation hadn’t changed their commitment to their family. “Rebecca and I are not a couple anymore. Usually, almost always, we’re not a couple. But we are, always, a family,” he wrote. Dane also wrote about the support he received from Gayheart. “She’s the person I call, the one I go to when I need to talk, when I need to scream, when I need to cry.” The First Sign Something Was Wrong Dane wrote that he first noticed trouble with his right hand while eating sushi with his daughters on January 7, 2024. He initially blamed texting, but a few weeks later he could no longer hold the chopsticks. ALS affects the nerve cells that control voluntary muscle movement, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. As those cells deteriorate, people develop muscle weakness that worsens over time. The disease can eventually affect the ability to walk, speak, swallow, and breathe. There’s currently no cure, though treatments can help manage symptoms, and some may slow its progression. After his diagnosis, Dane thought about what he wanted his daughters to see from him. “I’m going to show my girls how to walk through this life with grace and dignity, no matter what,” he wrote. Source link

Anna Faris is opening up about her personal growth and recovery after reading comments made by her former boss. Following the release of television producer Chuck Lorre’s new memoir, Sitcom, Faris took to social media on Oct. 15 to address his characterization of her abrupt departure from the series. She announced her exit in September 2020, ahead of the show’s eighth and final season. “Yikes. Yes, I read a few things. I really didn’t see that coming. Of course it hurts,” Faris wrote on Instagram. Related story Martin Short Shares a Heartbreaking Update on Grieving His Late Daughter Katherine Addressing the Memoir Claims In Sitcom, Lorre wrote that he hesitated to cast Faris as Christy Plunkett, even though she was CBS’s first choice for the role. “I initially said no. I wasn’t sure Anna would be appropriate for this kind of material,” he wrote, per Us. Looking back, Lorre said he felt his first instinct was right. “As the years went by, it became apparent that my initial reluctance to hire Anna was, in fact, correct,” he wrote. “After six years, she left the show for mysterious reasons that were not mysterious to anyone on the show.” He didn’t say what those reasons were. Instead of firing back, Faris took the high road and expressed her appreciation for the opportunity. “Chuck gave me a job I loved, and for seven years I never took a day of it for granted,” she wrote. “I’m proud of what we made together, and nothing changes how grateful I am for those people and those years.” Prioritizing Health and Happiness Faris also used the post to share a personal milestone. “I’ve been sober for a year and a half,” she wrote. “I was on a show about recovery and then I lived it.” It’s a meaningful full-circle moment for Faris, who played Christy, a single mom newly in recovery, opposite Allison Janney for seven seasons. “Now I’m healthy, I’m working, and I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time,” she added. She ended with a message for anyone who might be struggling: “If anyone reading this is where I was, I hope that’s useful. It gets better. I’m proof.” Source link