Food Critic Jay Rayner Unleashes On Johann Hari’s ‘B*****ks’ Claim He Took Weight Loss Drug
Jay Rayner questioned Hari’s overall journalistic integrity in a blistering thread on X. (Ian West/PA Wire URN:36267606 (Press Association via AP Images))
Food critic Jay Rayner denied claims made by author Johann Hari in his new book that he had once been prescribed the weight-loss drug Ozempic but discontinued it due to its impact on his enjoyment of food.
In the book, Magic Pill, released just last week, Hari explains how he began weekly injections of Ozempic in 2023, a drug heralded for its dramatic weight loss effects. He seeks to give a comprehensive understanding of the drugs scientific, emotional, and cultural impacts, likening their transformative potential to that of the smartphone.
On Sunday, however, Rayner unleashed on Hari in a scorching thread on X to his 374,000 followers and blasted the claim as “complete and utter bollocks.”
Pointing to a previous column of his, Rayner said: “I wrote one column on the subject in which I explained why I would NEVER take it. The piece is clear. I explained why I would not be using it. I didn’t say anything about Paris restaurants. This was completely checkable.”
Rayner also questioned Hari’s journalistic integrity. In 2011, Hari faced suspension from The Independent and subsequently resigned following his admission of engaging in plagiarism and fabrications since 2001, as well as making hostile edits to the Wikipedia pages of journalists critical of him.
Referencing Hari’s past, Rayner continued: “He’s now repeating this cobblers in interviews. We know @johannhari101 is a terrible journalist (I use the term loosely). He had to quit a newspaper for making stuff up. But Christ, checking something like this isn’t hard.”
Finally, the food critic turned his fury to the publisher, Bloomsbury Books, expressing disbelief over their lack of thorough review: “I am mystified as to why @BloomsburyBooks did not go through the text with a fine tooth comb.”
“So for the record and contrary to what @johannhari101 has written and said,” he concluded, “I have never used Ozempic or anything similar.”
