Melissa McCarthy Is Unrecognizable After Dropping Nearly 100 Pounds

Melissa McCarthy turned heads at the Elle Women in Hollywood 2025 event on Monday night, stepping out at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills looking slimmer than ever. The 55-year-old actress and comedian, who wore a flowing orange-and-black floral dress paired with rust-colored platform boots, appeared visibly more slender despite her loose, modest ensemble. McCarthy’s transformation has fueled ongoing curiosity about her weight loss methods, especially amid Hollywood’s growing conversation around Ozempic. Although various outlets have speculated that McCarthy may have used the drug, the star has never confirmed or denied taking Ozempic. When Barbra Streisand famously asked her on Instagram whether she used it, Melissa McCarthy didn’t respond directly. Instead, she expressed shock and delight that Streisand even knew who she was.

After decades of public scrutiny, McCarthy has learned to shrug off the constant commentary about her body. The actress revealed that everything shifted for her in her 30s, when she stopped trying to win everyone’s approval and finally made peace with herself.

“Somewhere in my 30s, I was like, ‘I’m okay with who I am.’ And if someone wasn’t thrilled with that, that’s okay too,” she told PEOPLE in 2023. “At some point, I was like, ‘They’re not all going to like you.’ You have to learn that the hard way, but it’s a good lesson.”

Now 55, McCarthy has spent the last decade speaking candidly about self-acceptance, body image, and how her mindset shifted from self-criticism to genuine confidence. For her, feeling good has never meant fitting into a certain size. Instead, it’s about authenticity, comfort, and living life on her own terms.

McCarthy’s stunning new look didn’t just turn heads on the red carpet, but it sent her fans into full celebration mode. After photos and videos from her Elle Women in Hollywood appearance hit social media, the comment section quickly filled with praise, heart emojis, and pure adoration.

One supporter cheered, “MM the icon,” while another gushed, “So obsessed with Melissa McCarthy.” Fans from around the world chimed in as well, including one who wrote, “Te amoooo amor.”

While Hollywood leans heavily on quick fixes, McCarthy takes pride in avoiding drastic measures. She didn’t opt for weight-loss surgery or extreme diets. Instead, she spent five years gradually changing her lifestyle at a pace she could maintain as a working mom. “What’s the hurry?” she said during a 2018 interview on The Breakfast Club. “If I can de-stress and do it slower and stop constantly trying to be on something… it actually worked better.”

She compared fad diets to “trying to hold your breath all day,” explaining that no one can sustain that kind of pressure without breaking down. “Fourteen hours in, you go bat sh-t crazy,” she joked. After having kids, McCarthy realized she needed a more realistic approach, admitting, “I have to be realistic. It’s not gonna go fast. But I mean, I feel great.”

Her focus now? Balance, de-stressing, and a lifestyle centered around feeling strong and comfortable, not chasing quick results.

As McCarthy has grown more confident in her own skin, she’s made it a priority to pass that mindset on to her daughters. For her, teaching them to love themselves isn’t just important, but it’s non-negotiable.

“Give me your best punch in the face, and I’ll take that punch, rather than have my kid feel bad about herself,” she told Redbook in 2016. She emphasized how deeply society’s beauty standards harm young girls, adding, “There’s an epidemic in our country of girls and women feeling bad about themselves based on what .5% of the human race looks like. It starts very young.”

Her message to her daughters, and to women everywhere, is that health matters, not unrealistic ideals. “As long as everybody’s healthy, enjoy and embrace whatever body type you have,” she said.

For McCarthy, one of the biggest revelations in her wellness journey was realizing how much time she wasted stressing over a number on a scale. Looking back, she now sees that her perception of her body was shaped more by societal pressure than reality.

“I thought I battled weight throughout high school,” she told Rolling Stone. “But I look back at pictures of me as a cheerleader, doing sprints, lifting weights, doing gymnastics, playing tennis… and while I wasn’t reed-thin like some girls. We’re so f-cked up in this country that somehow equates that with better. I was a size six the entire time. So what on Earth was I freaking out about?”

Today, McCarthy sees those years through a much clearer lens. Her focus isn’t on shrinking herself, but on rejecting the cultural obsession with thinness and embracing a healthier, more grounded view of her body.