Television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz has told his friend and fellow TV star Oprah Winfrey not to endorse him in the Pennsylvania Senate race, where he is currently campaigning for a Republican nomination.
“I asked her to stay out,” Oz explained of his talk with Winfrey. “Don’t support me because if you get involved in any way, you’ll get hurt and I don’t want my friends hurt.”
Oz, 61, garnered fame as a celebrity doctor. He began in the five-year role of resident health expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Then, he secured his own position as the host of The Dr. Oz Show, which has run for 13 seasons since 2009.
Earlier this month, Sony announced its cancelation of The Dr. Oz Show. It will be replaced by a show titled The Good Dish, which will be hosted by Oz’s daughter, Daphne Oz.
Oz has faced backlash over the years for his often dubious medical advice, such as his promotion of “magic weight-loss pills.” He also insisted in the early months of the pandemic, in over 25 appearances on Fox News, that the malaria drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine cure Covid-19. Not only do these drugs not cure Covid-19, but they were soon found to actually increase a coronavirus patient’s likelihood to die.
In 2015, a group of 10 doctors advocated for his removal from Columbia University’s medical faculty. They argued that Oz had “repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine.” However, Columbia took no action.
On Dec. 16, Oz appeared at a meeting with top Manhattan Republican politicians in a restaurant. The event was attended by over 50 people, including former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. It was hosted by billionaires John and Margo Catsimatidis.
It is currently unclear exactly what Oz believes as a political candidate. However, he has thus far appealed to conservatives’ anger toward mask mandates and other Covid-19 restrictions. He said in the statement announcing his run for Senate, “Washington got it wrong. They took away our freedom without making us safer and tried to kill our spirit and our dignity.”
