After a shocking interview about encounters with Norman Lear and Betty White, Sally Struthers finally steps out

Sally Struthers is coming out in public following her explosive interview about her unpleasant experiences in the entertainment world.

The actress, 77, brought her dog to the vet in Beverly Hills on Thursday, January 16, only days after speaking up about negative experiences with the late Norman Lear and Betty White. She wore all black, knee-high boots and a gold heart-shaped necklace, matching her appearance on the Let’s Talk About That! With Larry Saperstein and Jacob Bellotti podcast on January 13.

During the podcast broadcast, Struthers made various charges regarding her experience in Hollywood, including the revelation that she was embarrassed while on All in the Family.

“All those years on the show, Norman and his wife would have dinner parties,” she explained in the episode. Despite the frequent invitations to the show’s other stars, Carroll O’Connor, Jean Stapleton, and Rob Reiner, and their wives, Struthers expressed that she hadn’t received an invitation to his home in eight years, which she found unpleasant.

Despite winning two Emmys for her role in the series, Struthers remained the “fourth banana” on the program, behind the other three main characters. The “older, brilliant Jewish faith writers” could write for the other characters, but not for “a young lady,” she said.

“Every performance, I typically recited three lines that included the phrases ‘I’ll help you prepare the table, Ma,’ and ‘Michael, where are you going?'” And ‘Oh, Daddy, stop it,'” Struthers explained. “Then the following week, I’d have the same three lines in a different order.” And if they really didn’t know what to do with me in a scene, they’d send me upstairs to bathe or wash my hair. “It was extremely frustrating.”

She also recalled an especially traumatic interaction in which Lear informed her, “So we hired you because, like Carroll O’Connor, you have blue eyes and a fat face.”

Five seasons in, Struthers revealed that she sought legal assistance to help her quit the program, but after spending $40,000 on legal bills during arbitration, she lost.

Later in the interview, the Gilmore Girls star claimed White made remarks about her physique, recalling a time when she visited White’s residence to work on a pilot for a new game show.

Struthers recalled that there was a plate in the middle containing cookies. “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.'”

She said, “I know everyone loves her, but she totally fat-shamed me in front of the rest of the room, and I thought, ‘Gosh, that’s not good.'” They were madly in love with her. They signed petitions to have her guest host Saturday Night Live. I am aware of all of this. My experience with her wasn’t particularly positive.

She then described White as a “very passive-aggressive woman.”