Betty White has been accused of ‘fat shaming’ actress Sally Struthers in a shock alleged incident.
All In The Family star Struthers, 77, claimed ‘passive aggressive’ White – who died in 2021 aged 99 – made a disparaging remark as the pair worked on a pilot for a new game show where they were offered a snack.
Struthers said on Monday’s Let’s Talk About That podcast: ‘The plate was set in the middle [by White’s housekeeper], and it was cookies, I think.
‘So I reached for a cookie and she said in front of everyone, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, dear, you don’t need a cookie.”
Struthers said at the time she thought ‘that’s not nice.’
She said she feels comfortable discussing the alleged incident now that Golden Girls star White is dead, saying: ‘I know everybody loves her. They loved her so much. They signed petitions to get her to guest host Saturday Night Live. I know all that.’
Struthers said White’s Golden Girls co-star Bea Arthur was much nicer to her when she guest starred on All In The Family’s second season.
Betty White has been accused of ‘fat shaming’ actress Sally Struthers in a shock alleged incident – White is pictured 2012
All In The Family star Struthers, 77, claimed ‘passive aggressive’ White – who died in 2021 aged 99 – made a disparaging remark as the pair worked on a pilot for a new game show where they were offered a snack – Struthers pictured January 2024
She said: ‘Bea Arthur comes in and she’s a force of nature’ adding she was ‘filthier than a drunken sailor’ and ‘put all sorts of expletives in her lines to shock these men.’
White died on December 31 2021, just just weeks before her 100th birthday,
White, who capped a career of more than 80 years by becoming America’s sweetheart after Emmy-winning roles on television sitcoms, is believed to have died of natural causes at her home.
On December 28, she had tweeted: ‘My 100th birthday… I cannot believe it is coming up, and People Magazine is celebrating with me! The new issue of @People is available on newsstands nationwide tomorrow.’
Writer John Leavitt joked: ‘You gotta admit, having an entire magazine devoted to your 100th birthday hit the racks and then dying before that birthday is excellent comic timing.’
President Joe Biden led tributes to the star, tweeting: ‘Betty White brought a smile to the lips of generations of Americans.
Through the 1960s and early ’70s, White was seen regularly on television, hosting coverage of the annual Tournament of Rose Parade and appearing on game shows such as Match Game and Password.
She married Password host Allen Ludden, her third and final husband, in 1963.
Struthers said on Monday’s Let’s Talk About That podcast : ”So I reached for a cookie and she said in front of everyone, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, dear, you don’t need a cookie.’ – pictured on All In The Family in 1976 with Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton and Rob Reiner)
She said she feels comfortable discussing the alleged incident now that Golden Girls star White is dead, saying: ‘ I know everybody loves her. They loved her so much. They signed petitions to get her to guest host Saturday Night Live. I know all that- pictured 2010
Struthers said White’s Golden Girls co-star Bea Arthur was much nicer to her when she guest starred on All In The Family’s second season
White reached a new level of success on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, playing the host of a home-making television show – the snide, lusty Sue Ann Nivens, whose credo was ‘a woman who does a good job in the kitchen is sure to reap her rewards in other parts of the house.’
White won best-supporting actress Emmys for the role in 1975 and 1976.
She won another Emmy in 1986 for The Golden Girls, a sitcom about four older women living together in Miami that featured an age demographic rarely highlighted on American television.
White also was nominated for an Emmy six other times for her portrayal of the widowed Rose Nylund, a sweet, naive and ditzy Midwesterner, on the show, which ran from 1985 to 1992 and was one of the top-rated series of its time.
After a less successful sequel to The Golden Girls came a series of small movie parts, talk-show appearances and one-off television roles, including one that won her an Emmy for a guest appearance on The John Larroquette Show.
By 2009 she was becoming ubiquitous with more frequent television appearances and a role in the Sandra Bullock film The Proposal.
She starred in a popular Snickers candy commercial that aired during the Super Bowl, taking a brutal hit in a mud puddle in a football game.
White, who had no children, worked for animal causes. She once turned down a role in the movie As Good as It Gets because of a scene in which a dog was thrown in a garbage chute.
‘I didn’t have such a great experience with her.’
