For 99 percent of the world, Betty White is a beloved icon. But Sally Struthers, best known for playing Babette in Gilmore Girls, has a different take. She said that Betty White “fat-shamed” her in front of others.
Struthers opened up about this interaction on the podcast Let’s Talk About That!, calling Betty White a “passive-aggressive woman.”
Struthers shared her experience with Betty White
Sally Struthers candidly shared her feelings towards the late Golden Girls actress, who passed away just a couple of weeks before her 100th birthday in December 2021.
The Gilmore Girls alum recalled a time they were meeting at Betty White’s house.
She spoke openly on the podcast
Appearing as a guest on the Let’s Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti podcast on 13 January, Struthers said, “I have to say, now that she’s gone, I wanna talk about Betty White for just a moment.”
Struthers knew Betty was widely loved
“And I know everybody loves her. They loved her so much. They signed petitions to get her to guest host Saturday Night Live,” she shared.
“I know all that. I didn’t have such a great experience with her—very passive-aggressive woman,” the actress added.
They were at Betty White’s house
According to Struthers, they went to Betty White’s place to work on a pilot episode for a new game show. This is where the hurtful interaction took place, with other members of the production team around to witness it.
It had been a work meeting at White’s
“She asked her housekeeper to bring in a plate of whatever to us while we were all sitting and talking about what was working about the game show and what wasn’t,” the Gilmore Girls actress began.
Then came an unwelcome comment
The 77-year-old actress continued, “Then the plate was set in the middle and it was cookies, I think.”
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Having reached for a cookie, Struthers was then given an unwelcome comment from Betty, sharing, “She said in front of everyone, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you dear, you don’t need a cookie.'”
Struthers had felt hurt by Betty’s remark
“Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room,” the All in the Family actress added, before admitting, “And I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not nice.'”
Struthers hadn’t felt comfortable sharing her negative feelings towards Betty White because she was loved by all of America.
Others recall Betty White differently
While Sally Struthers did not have the best memories with Betty White, others shared pleasant interactions with the American comedy icon after she passed away at her home in Los Angeles.
Ryan Reynolds shared his love for her
The Proposal co-star Ryan Reynolds shared an Instagram post following her death, saying, “The world looks different now. She was great at defying expectation. She managed to grow very old and somehow, not old enough. We’ll miss you, Betty.”
Steve Martin also had a nice interaction with her
Steve Martin also recalled a lovely interaction with Betty White. He met her and her husband Allen Ludden at singer Linda Ronstadt’s show in 1974 where he was an opening act.
“I loved Betty White, so I went up to them: ‘I’m so honored to meet you both.’ And then I said, ‘Isn’t Linda great?’ She said, ‘We came to see you.’ I said, ‘Why?’ ‘Because we heard you were funny.’ I was elated,” the actor wrote on X/Twitter.
