‘All in the Family’ Star Slams ‘Passive Aggressive’ Betty White for ‘Fat Shaming’

During a recent appearance on Let’s Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti, All in the Family star Sally Struthers, 77, shared an unfortunate memory of Betty White, who died at 99 in 2021.Struthers explained to the hosts that she used to live “up the street” from White in Los Angeles’ tony Brentwood neighborhood. “I know everybody loves her. They loved her so much. I know all that,” Struthers stipulated before adding, “I didn’t have such a great experience with her.” Struthers explained that she feels it’s all right to share her true feelings about White “now that she’s gone.”Calling the Golden Girls star a “very passive-aggressive woman,” Struthers went on to recount an incident in which she was “fat-shamed” by White. She and other creatives were at White’s house working on developing a new game show when the star asked her housekeeper to bring the group some refreshments.“Then the plate was set in the middle, and it was cookies, I think,” Struthers recalled. “So, I reached for a cookie and [White] said in front of everyone, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, dear, you don’t need a cookie.’”Struthers continued: “Totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the people in the room. And I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not nice.’”Though White led a legendary career and is beloved in the industry for her talent and commitment, it was long rumored within the business that White could be a mercurial and scathing presence. One oft-repeated story concerns White publicly berating Golden Girls co-star Estelle Getty, who was suffering from undiagnosed Lewy body dementia during the sitcom’s production, for not remembering her lines. This was confirmed by the show’s writer, Stan Zimmerman, in a 2024 interview.“That’s why sometimes [in] scenes, you’ll see [Getty] eating raisins. She actually has the lines on her hands,” Zimmerman explained. “So, when we would break because of a mistake from Estelle, Betty would walk over to the [audience] and start making jokes. And, at the time, because I was close with Estelle, I felt, ‘Why is she making fun of Estelle?’ I was very protective.”Related: Ted Danson Apologizes to Kelsey Grammer for Decades-Old Falling OutBut Zimmerman added that White “knew Estelle had panic attacks every time we went to go film,” and with decades of hindsight now believes “Betty was steering the attention away from Estelle, going up to the audience so that people would be looking at her over there and let Estelle have the moment to collect herself, look at the script.”As for Struthers, she struggled with weight issues following All in the Family, something which she was open about but that frequently subjected her to mean-spirited commentary. Later in life, she did away with “fad diets that never worked” and instead prioritized the importance of consistent exercise and body wellness over the precise numbers on the scale.“I started by just walking more. I wasn’t trying to run marathons or do insane workouts — I just wanted to move more,” she said (via Rice University). Struthers soon found the significant mental health boost she felt did away with any fear or laziness about exercising. “The biggest change was learning that I could still enjoy my favorite foods,” she added. “It’s about moderation, not restriction.”Struthers is experiencing a bit of a career renaissance at the moment. She’s earning strong notices for her meatiest and most prolific role in years, starring as a man-eating divorcée opposite Ted Danson in Netflix’s acclaimed dramedy A Man on the Inside.