Celebrities React to Betty White's Death
Sally Struthers is not keeping it all in the family when it comes to Betty White.
The Gilmore Girls alum revealed her true feelings about the Golden Girls actress, who died in 2021 at the age of 99. Noting that she lived only a few doors down from the exterior of the famed Golden Girls house in Brentwood, Calif., Sally got candid about her less than stellar interactions with Betty.
"I have to say, now that she's gone, I wanna talk about Betty White for just a moment," Sally began on the Let's Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti podcast Jan. 13. "And I know everybody loves her. They loved her so much. They signed petitions to get her to guest host Saturday Night Live."
She added, "I know all that. I didn't have such a great experience with her—very passive-aggressive woman."
According to the 77-year-old, she had a particularly bad encounter with Betty when she went over to her to work on the pilot for a new game show.
"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," Sally recalled. "Then the plate was set in the middle and it was cookies, I think."
Sally then recalled a cruel remark Betty made when she went to reach for a cookie. "She said in front of everyone, 'Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you dear, you don't need a cookie.'"
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"Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room," Sally added. "And I thought, 'Gosh, that's not nice.'"
And while the All in the Family star had negative feelings about Betty, there were a slew of stars who fondly remembered the Hot in Cleveland actress after she passed away from a stroke at her home in Los Angeles on Dec. 31, 2021, just 18 days shy of her 100th birthday.
Ryan Reynolds—who starred with Betty in 2009's The Proposal—shared on Instagram at the time, "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."
Brian To/Getty Images for The Lifeline Program
And Steve Martin recalled his sweet interaction with the Emmy winner. "In 1974, I was an obscure opening act for [singer] Linda Ronstadt at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Passing through the lobby before the show, I saw Betty White and her husband Allen Ludden waiting in line," he recalled on X. "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."
For a look back at Betty's life, keep reading.
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