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Amy Schumer says criticism of her rounder face led to diagnosis of Cushing syndrome
Comedian and actress Amy Schumer received comments after several recent TV appearances from viewers who noticed her rounder-looking face. While some of the comments about her physical appearance seemed mean-spirited or unwarranted, Schumer said “thank God for that,” because she realized something was wrong and got a diagnosis: Cushing syndrome.
After appearing on shows like “Watch What Happens Live” and “The Tonight Show” to promote her show “Life and Beth,” Schumer took to Instagram to address the comments. “Binge both full seasons of @lifeandbethhulu and thank you so much for everyone’s input about my face! I’ve enjoyed feedback and deliberation about my appearance as all women do for almost 20 years,” she wrote, a hint of sarcasm in her post.
She said her face is puffier than normal, saying she has endometriosis and is going through “medical and hormonal things.”
But in a recent interview with “News Not Noise” blogger Jessica Yellin, Schumer said after reading the comments she was diagnosed with Cushing syndrome, which according to the Mayo Clinic occurs when the body has too much of the hormone cortisol over a long period of time.
What is Cushing syndrome?
Symptoms of the condition, which can be caused from taking medications called glucocorticoids or corticosteroids, can include a rounded face, pink or purple stretch marks on the skin and a fatty hump between the shoulders, according to Mayo Clinic, and could also lead to high blood pressure, bone loss and even type 2 diabetes.
Schumer said her condition was caused by getting steroid injections in high doses. She says she now feels “reborn” after her diagnosis, and while some forms of Cushing can be fatal, she has a type that “will just work itself out.”
She said that while she was making public appearances and giving interviews to promote the show, she was getting tests like MRIs and blood draws, which made her worry she may not be around to see her son grow up.
“So finding out I have the kind of Cushing that will just work itself out and I’m healthy was the greatest news imaginable,” she said. “It has been a crazy couple weeks for me and my family.”
“Aside from fears about my health, I also had to be on camera having the internet chime in. But thank God for that,” she said. “Because that’s how I realized something was wrong.”
Lowering the body’s cortisol levels can help improve Cushing symptoms, and the sooner treatment starts, the better, Mayo Clinic says. Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands that helps regulate your body’s response to stress, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Corticosteroids can be used to treat several issues including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma and allergies, according to the Mayo Clinic. They can be taken by mouth, inhaled or injected, and all of these forms can come with side effects.
Amy Schumer’s endometriosis diagnosis
Schumer said she has endometriosis, an often painful condition in which tissue that is similar to the inside the uterus grows outside of it.
When asked by Yellin why she is sharing her health information, Schumer said: “The shaming and criticism of our ever-changing bodies is something I have dealt with and witnessed for a long time. I want so much for women to love themselves and be relentless when fighting for their own health in a system that usually doesn’t believe them.”
“I want women to know it’s abnormal to have extremely painful periods and to find someone with experience in diagnosing and operating for endometriosis,” she said, adding that she received surgery for the condition that changed her life. “I want women to value feeling strong, healthy and comfortable in their own skin. I am extremely privileged to have the resources I have for my health and I know it’s not that way for most people. I am grateful and want to use my voice to continue to fight for women.”
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says workers at seven Amazon facilities will begin a strike Thursday morning in an effort by the union to pressure the e-commerce giant for a labor agreement during a key shopping period.
The Teamsters say the workers, who authorized walkouts in the past few days, are joining the picket line after Amazon ignored a Dec. 15 deadline the union set for contract negotiations. Amazon says it doesn’t expect any impact on its operations during what the union calls the largest strike against the company in U.S. history.
The Teamsters say they represent nearly 10,000 workers at 10 Amazon facilities, a small portion of the 1.5 million people Amazon employs in its warehouses and corporate offices.
Amazon is ranked No. 2 on the Fortune 500 list of the nation’s largest companies.
At a warehouse in the New York City borough of Staten Island, thousands of workers who voted for the Amazon Labor Union in 2022 and have since affiliated with the Teamsters. At the other facilities, employees – including many delivery drivers – have unionized with them by demonstrating majority support but without holding government-administered elections.
The strikes happening Thursday are taking place at an Amazon warehouse in San Francisco and six delivery stations in southern California, New York City, Atlanta and the Chicago suburb of Skokie, Illinois, according to the union’s announcement. Amazon workers at the other facilities are “prepared to join” them, the union said.
“Amazon is pushing its workers closer to the picket line by failing to show them the respect they have earned,” Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement.
“If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed. We gave Amazon a clear deadline to come to the table and do right by our members. They ignored it,” he said.
The Seattle-based online retailer has been seeking to re-do the election that led to the union victory at the warehouse on Staten Island, which the Teamsters now represent. In the process, the company has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board.
Meanwhile, Amazon says the delivery drivers, which the Teamsters have organized for more than a year, aren’t its employees. Under its business model, the drivers work for third-party businesses, called Delivery Service Partners, who drop off millions of packages to customers everyday.
“For more than a year now, the Teamsters have continued to intentionally mislead the public – claiming that they represent ‘thousands of Amazon employees and drivers’. They don’t, and this is another attempt to push a false narrative,” Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel said in a statement. “The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union.“
The Teamsters have argued Amazon essentially controls everything the drivers do and should be classified as an employer.
Some U.S. labor regulators have sided with the union in filings made before the NLRB. In September, Amazon boosted pay for the drivers amid the growing pressure.
NEW YORK — The Teamsters union is launching a strike against Amazon at numerous locations across the country, including in Maspeth, Queens.
The Teamsters are calling it the largest strike against Amazon in United States history, and it’s set to begin at 6 a.m. Thursday. In addition to New York City, workers will be joining picket lines in Atlanta, Southern California, San Francisco and Illinois.
In a video announcement released Wednesday night, workers voiced their frustrations.
“Us being strike ready means we’re fed up, and Amazon is clearly ignoring us and we want to be heard,” one worker says in the video.
“It’s really exciting. We’re taking steps for ourselves to win better conditions, better benefits, better wages,” another worker in the video says.
The union says it represents about 10,000 Amazon employees and that Amazon ignored a deadline to come to the table and negotiate. The $2 trillion company doesn’t pay employees enough to make ends meet, the union asserts.
At the height of the holiday season, many are wondering what this means for packages currently in transit.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said, “If your package is delayed during the holidays, you can blame Amazon’s insatiable greed.”
Amazon says Teamsters are misleading the public
An Amazon spokesperson says the Teamsters are misleading the public and do not represent any Amazon employees, despite any claims.
“The truth is that the Teamsters have actively threatened, intimidated, and attempted to coerce Amazon employees and third-party drivers to join them, which is illegal and is the subject of multiple pending unfair labor practice charges against the union,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
An Amazon representative says the company doesn’t expect operations to be impacted.
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